On 24 February 2014 in Strasbourg, France, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij met with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, to discuss ways to support Ukraine.
Eugene Czolij expressed gratitude to the Council of Europe and the Secretary General for their assistance during the crisis in Ukraine and emphasized the imperativeness of the immediate implementation of Thorbjorn Jagland’s initiative to establish an independent group of experts to investigate acts of violence during the protests on EuroMaidans.
Focusing on the continuation of conflicts in Eastern and Southern Ukraine, Eugene Czolij requested that the Council of Europe monitor these events.
The UWC President also called for the Council of Europe to react to Russia’s undue meddling in Ukrainian affairs and continuously remind Russia of its international obligations.
Finally, Eugene Czolij urged Thorbjorn Jagland to send a monitoring mission to Ukraine from the Council of Europe to help ensure the fairest and most transparent presidential elections on 25 May 2014.
“The Ukrainian World Congress calls upon the Council of Europe to contribute to the development of civil society in Ukraine and provide the country with a financial support package to alleviate the present tight situation in respect of payments and to help launch the necessary deep and comprehensive reforms of the Ukrainian economy,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
After the meeting, the UWC President participated in a memorial and wreath-laying ceremony in memory of Heaven’s Squadron at the Council of Europe where he was joined by Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe Ambassador Mykola Tochytskyi and the Strasbourg Ukrainian community.
