The PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy considered preliminary draft resolution "Political consequences of Ukrainian crisis" prepared by Christina Zelenkova (the Czech Republic).
In particular, in the course of the discussion, the Committee rejected proposals of the representative of the Netherlands to introduce the following remarks: address the Ukrainian authorities to demand revision of the R.Kotsaba case; abolish the decision to ban the Communist Party; withdraw the words saying that the sanctions against the Russian Federation split Europe.
At the same time, the Committee supported the initiative of the Dutch representative to address the Ukrainian authorities to be positive about the decisions of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) and take into consideration the conclusions of the International advisory group on investigation into the events than took place on Maidan Nezalezhnosti square in Kyiv.
The Committee approved the preliminary draft document saying that the conflict in Ukraine was a result of the violation of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity by the Russian Federation. The document also confirms the commitment of the Assembly to the independence and integrity of Ukraine within its internationally acknowledged borders. Besides, the document condemns illegal annexation of Crimea and worsening of the situation with the human rights protection on the peninsula; expresses concern over further violation of the ceasefire regime in the east of Ukraine; calls on the Russian authorities to withdraw its troops from the territory of Ukraine and to stop supporting the separatists; expresses concerns over the absence of any progress in the implementation of the Minsk accords; notes that local elections in Donbas must be conducted in compliance with the Ukrainian legislation and international standards. In its document, the Assembly also calls for bringing to responsibility the guilty of serious infringement of human rights to make it the basis for the reconciliation.
The Assembly heard the report entitled "Threat to migrants in Greece." The debates on the issue started with the presentation of the position of the political groups of the Assembly. At the end of the debates, the Assembly called on the Greek authorities and the European Union to take measures to protect fundamental rights of the refugees and migrants and enhance solidarity between the European countries to properly solve the migration crisis.
Head of the Ukrainian delegation V.Ariyev organized the roundtable entitled "Meeting with Nadiya Savchenko." During the event, N.Savchenko informed about the circumstances of her kidnapping and illegal imprisoning on the territory of the Russian Federation.
She warned against leaving Russia unpunished for its military aggression. She also called the society's attention to the topic of hostages an effective instrument to release Ukrainian citizens still kept in custody on the territory of the Russian Federation. Nadiya Savchenko put the expediency of involvement of the Russian delegation in the work of the Assembly in question.
Besides, the people's deputy said she would engage in the issues of the judicial reform in Ukraine, and creation of an international committee on the issues of prisoners and hostages.
Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of Estonia / Head of the Ministers Committee of the Council of Europe Marina Kaljurand addressed the parliamentarians and presented the list of top-priorities in Estonia's presidency such as the protection of human rights and supremacy of law in the Internet, gender equality, children's rights and cooperation of the Council of Europe with other international organizations.
Besides, Ms. Kaljurand noted that the Organization must further focus on the fight against extremism, radicalism and terrorism.
The rapporteur of the PACE Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination Maryvonne Blondin presented the report entitled "Guaranteeing equal rights and protecting women against violence in the Armed Forces." Member of the Ukrainian delegation Nadiya Savchenko took part in the debates on the said issue. She informed about her address to the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine demanding termination of existing gender-based restrictions on occupation of certain positions.