Today, the parliamentarians adopted a resolution “The death of Alexei Navalnyi and the need to confront the totalitarian regime of vladimir putin and his war against democracy.”
As part of the debate, our delegation repeatedly stressed that the real opposition today is those who are fighting on the side of Ukraine. In addition, we urged to take into account that there are still Ukrainian political prisoners in russia who are being held in inhumane conditions and subjected to particularly cruel treatment.
Together with their colleagues, Ukrainian parliamentarians worked on a number of very important amendments that complemented the resolution. In the document, PACE clearly stated that since coming to power, putin has been building a regime whose goal is to wage war against democracy and reshape the European and world order established after the collapse of the former soviet union.
The Assembly reaffirmed that under putin, the russian federation has become a de facto dictatorship and called:
to officially recognise the illegitimacy of putin as president of the russian federation. The document recalls that putin has been in power continuously since 2000, and the amendments to the constitution of the russian federation adopted in July 2020 and declared illegitimate by the Venice Commission and the Assembly allow him to remain in office until 2036; strengthen the sanctions regime against russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, as well as against the lukashenko regime in belarus;
to recognise the russian Orthodox Church as an instrument of russian influence and propaganda that has nothing to do with freedom of religion and expression, and to treat patriarch kirill and the russian Orthodox hierarchy as a continuation of the neo-imperial ideology of the “russian world” (this was an amendment of the Ukrainian delegation);
to create an international mechanism of compensation for victims of russian aggression against Ukraine, to which frozen russian assets should be immediately transferred, and create a special tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression against Ukraine;
to ensure that russia is held accountable for the systematic use of torture and other forms of ill-treatment suffered by thousands of prisoners in russia, including Ukrainian political prisoners illegally detained in russian prisons since 2014, as well as Ukrainian prisoners of war.
In addition, the Assembly stressed that, under international humanitarian law, russian oil refineries should be considered legitimate targets of military attacks.
“Very importantly, the Assembly also called on the United States, as an observer state to the Council of Europe, to ensure that the Senate Foreign Assistance bill, which includes military assistance to Ukraine, is brought to a vote without further delay or otherwise authorise the provision of necessary military and other assistance to Ukraine as soon as possible,” – stressed Yevheniia Kravchuk, a member of the delegation, adding that “the PACE resolution on Navalny's death has been turned into another powerful document in support of Ukraine and condemnation of putin’s aggression.”
Prior to the adoption of the Resolution, the PACE Legal Affairs Committee supported two important amendments to the document. According to the adopted amendments, the Assembly recognises that the putin regime professes the neo-imperial ideology of the “russian world”, which the kremlin has turned into a tool for fomenting war. The hierarchy of the moscow patriarchate of the russian Orthodox Church defends this ideology, declaring the war against Ukraine and the “satanic” West a “holy war of all russians”. The Assembly condemns such rhetoric and emphasises that incitement to commit the crime of aggression, genocide and war crimes is a crime in itself. This proposal was made by Estonian delegate Eerik Kross.
“We are grateful to our true friends and the rapporteurs of these resolutions, Emanuelis Zingeris and Eerik Kross, for the great work they have done! Thank you to our friends for being with us!” said the MP Larysa Bilozir.
Also today, the exhibition “Memory and Posters”, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews during World War II, was organised by the Permanent Delegation of Bulgaria to PACE. This was reported by a member of the delegation, Iryna Konstankevych.
The posters included in the exhibition are thematically dedicated to the problem of anti-Semitism in our society and the fight against it through art. The exhibition is a reminder of the demonstration of strong civic solidarity and unity that reached government circles, which saved nearly 50,000 Bulgarian Jews from deportation to concentration camps.
“This project has an important message: How is memory passed down through generations? In the context of the russian-Ukrainian war, we understand the importance of capturing everything in memory and restoring historical justice,” the delegate stressed.