“Russia’s return to the Assembly without fulfilling the PACE’s Crimea and Donbas de-occupation commitments as well as ones under the Minsk accords regarding the release of the Kremlin’s captives is totally impossible,” -- Iryna Herashchenko
As part of the Permanent parliamentary delegation to PACE, the First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Herashchenko took part on October 9 in the fourth-part session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.
Speaking in the ‘Strengthening the decision-making process of the Parliamentary Assembly concerning credentials and voting’ debate, I.Herashchenko called on the debatees to abstain from returning the Russian delegation to the Assembly without fulfilling its commitments resulting from the PACE’s resolutions and the Minsk accords. She underpropped her call with two letters received from the two Ukrainians detained in Russia for purely political reasons – Roman Sushchenko (sentenced and imprisoned for a 12-year tight security term) and Oleh Sentsov, sitting shackled in dungeons over the Arctic Circle. The politician noted that in their letters both the prisoners had thanked all European politicians for their efforts to release them and asked them to continue the struggle for the liberation of all the Kremlin’s political prisoners, to defend democratic principles and to resist the Russia’s aggression.
Iryna Herashchenko reminded that the resolution demanding Oleh Sentsov’s release had been adopted in 2015, while the Russian Federation kept ignoring that requirement all the time. “Oleh Sentsov is still in bonds, being at the very breaking point, yet the Russian authorities keep setting at naught any effort aimed at releasing the prisoners and captives. Until now, this aggressive state-like mass has not de-occupied the Crimea, has not vacated the Donbas, has not admitted its involvement in the downing the Boeing MH17, has not stopped aiding the Assad’s regime, still scornfully refusing its Salisbury stunts,” pointed out Iryna Herashchenko.
The First Vice-Speaker noted that the Russian Federation continues to apply methods of hybrid warfare, yet interfering in electoral processes in Germany, France and the United States.
Iryna Herashchenko also stressed that the financial reason for the Russian return seems to be inappropriate. The politician reminded that Ukraine had, despite its economic difficulties, voluntarily allocated some extra USD 400 thousand for the CE’s budget, thus visually proclaiming that "for Ukraine, principles over gold".
"The Ukrainian delegation stands firmly against the Assembly’s rights derogation and destruction of its authority. We shall vote against the resolution proposed and call upon all participants not to defeat the fundamental principles of the Council of Europe and to refrain from making decisions that would allow the Russian delegation to return to the Assembly without fulfilling its all commitments in force," stated I. Herashchenko.