Today, the regular spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has started in Strasbourg (France). The Ukrainian parliamentary delegation is taking part in the work of the Assembly.
The meeting began with a minute of silence to commemorate the victims of russian aggression against Ukraine. Also today, the parliamentarians approved the agenda for the week, and tomorrow is a crucial day for Ukraine with a vote on the resolution “Support for the reconstruction of Ukraine”, which contains very important recommendations on the use of frozen russian assets.
Opening the spring session, the PACE President-in-Office Theodoros Rousopoulos said:
“Ukraine needs our support, not just words – it now needs vital ammunition to continue to defend itself, to defend all of us and to defend the most important of all rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to life.
On Tuesday, the Assembly will discuss support for Ukraine's reconstruction, including a proposal to use frozen russian state assets, with the participation of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk.
“We must not hesitate to support Ukraine at this critical moment. I call on all European countries to redouble and triple their efforts to enable Ukraine to repel the invader, regain control of its illegally occupied territories and restore peace based on justice to all its land,” the PACE President said in his report.
Also today, the parliamentarians talked to three candidates for the post of Secretary General of the Council of Europe, whose election will take place during the PACE summer session on 24-28 June this year.
“These are Alain Berset, former President of the Swiss Confederation, who we met in February in Kyiv; Indrek Saar, former Minister of Culture of Estonia, member of the Estonian delegation to PACE. As well as Didier Reynders, the current EU Commissioner for Justice from Belgium, who is expected to visit Ukraine soon.
Each of the candidates presented their programme and priorities. It is important that each candidate has Ukraine, the establishment of an international tribunal and the Register of Damages at the top of their agenda,” said MP Yevheniia Kravchuk.
She also added that representatives of the Ukrainian delegation asked questions to all the candidates. in particular, they focused on the use of frozen assets of the russian federation and the transformation of the Register of Damages into a comprehensive compensation mechanism.
In addition, the session will feature an important event titled “Victims of Enforced Disappearances: How the russian federation Captures Ukrainian Civilians and Violates International Law” and the opening of an exhibition of paintings by Mariia Prymachenko.
“This exhibition is intended to show how the russian occupier is trying to erase our identity and culture, which is the subject of the Resolution that PACE will vote on in June!” said Mariia Mezentseva, the Head of the Ukrainian delegation to PACE.