December 21, 2010
PRESS RELEASE
UWC PRESIDENT MEETS WITH THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT’S DELEGATION TO THE EU-UKRAINE PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION COMMITTEE
On December 14, 2010 Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij met with the Chairperson of the European Parliament’s Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Pawel Kowal. Also participating in the meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, was Michal Czaplicki, European Parliament Desk Officer for Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
The UWC President acquainted Pawel Kowal with the goals and principles of the UWC. Subsequently, he focused on paragraph 20 of the European Parliament resolution of 25 February 2010 on the situation in Ukraine highlighting the fact that it demeaned the honor of national hero of Ukraine Stepan Bandera and the Bandera-led Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). Eugene Czolij referred to a letter from the UWC in this regard dated March 3, 2010 addressed to the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek which outlines Stepan Bandera’s role in Ukraine’s struggle for independence and dispels the unsubstantiated allegation that under Bandera’s leadership the OUN collaborated with the Nazi regime.
During the meeting current events in Ukraine were discussed, following which Eugene Czolijexpressed UWC’s agreement with the statement in the European Parliament resolution of 25 November 2010 on Ukraine that, following the January 2010 Presidential elections in Ukraine, there are worrying signs of a lessening of respect for democracy and pluralism. The UWC President encouraged the European Parliament to continue monitoring the level of democracy in Ukraine.
The UWC President also emphasized the significance of the European Parliament resolution of 23 October 2008 on the commemoration of the Holodomor, the Ukrainian artificial famine (1932-33) and called upon the European Parliament to take the next logical step by recognizing the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people, as 14 countries have already done.
He also presented Pawel Kowal with a memorandum on the Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Ukrainians of Russia (FNCAUR) which outlines Russia’s attempts to liquidate this NGO and requested that the European Parliament react to this unacceptable pressure being exerted on FNCAUR by Russia.
In concluding this meeting, Eugene Czolij confirmed that the UWC will continue to follow the work of the EU‑Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. He also requested that the UWC office receive updates on the Committee’s activities and that the UWC be invited to attend the bi-annual meetings of the Committee as an observer.
Pawel Kowal thanked the UWC for its interest in the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee’s work. Both parties agreed to meet on a regular basis.
“This was the first official meeting with the Chairperson of the European Parliament’s Delegation to the EU‑Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Pawel Kowal which offered the opportunity to discuss issues of significance to the UWC with respect to the current situation in Ukraine and the Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Ukrainians of Russia,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
UKRAINIAN WORLD CONGRESS
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