On March 28-29, 2015, a group of people's deputies/members of Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly — N.Ahafonova, O.Belkova, S.Vysotskyi took part in the seminar entitled “From conflict to compromise — the experience of Franco-German border region” following the invitation of the organization and under the auspices of Bundestag and Foreign Affairs Ministry of Germany in Leinsweiler (Germany).
In compliance with the program of the event, the seminar took place in the context of Vienna Process founded last year aimed at facilitating further dialogue between the parliamentarians/members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly from Russia, Ukraine and other interested countries. Participants of the event eyed respective experience of neighboring countries, in particular, Franco-German experience, discussed existing lessons from historical experience of the Alsace-Lorraine-Rhineland-Palatinate-Saarland region.
The agenda of the meeting envisions the consideration of the following issues, in particular, current relations between: Germany and France, Germany and Russia, Germany and Ukraine, Russia and Ukraine; spheres of practical transfrontier cooperation; temporary crossing of border by citizens of one country, who work in the frontier zone of a neighboring country; transfrontier money transfers’ opportunities for simplification of dialogue; joint parliamentary activity.
The seminar was one of not many direct meetings between Ukrainian and Russian parliamentarians since the last consideration of the crisis in Ukraine by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
"A few weeks before the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and in this 40th anniversary year of the Helsinki Final Act, we need to draw lessons from examples of reconciliation and post-conflict rehabilitation between neighbors," said OSCE PA President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland). "Despite the differences between the conflicts, the German-French example shows that conflicts can be resolved when there is political will and incentives to do so. I hope that my Russian and Ukrainian parliamentary colleagues can take lessons learned from history, and from this seminar, back to their capitals and be inspired to work hard for peace," Kanerva added.
The seminar was addressed by history experts and officials including the former Prime Minister of the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, Kurt Beck; the Head of the Taskforce for the 2016 German OSCE Chairmanship, Ambassador Antje Leendertse; County Chief Executive Theresia Riedmaier; and the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), former German Foreign Office State Minister Michael Georg Link.
On behalf of German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Ambassador Leendertse welcomed the efforts undertaken by the OSCE PA, which she described as a parliamentary parallel to the meetings of governments in the so-called "Normandy format" on the conflict in and around Ukraine.
"In any conflict, both sides will be losers," said former PA President and President of the Parliament of Montenegro Ranko Krivokapic.
"In the present conflict in and around Ukraine, it is a particular tragedy that – in contrast to the historical German-French conflict – the peoples of Ukraine and Russia have been living peacefully side by side," he added.
The history experts noted that the German-French example demonstrates the strong desire of citizens affected by conflicts to preserve their cultural identity, their economic livelihoods and their personal freedoms, and that viewing conflicts primarily through military strategy has always led to crisis and even catastrophe.
OSCE PA Vice-President Doris Barnett of Germany, who hosted the seminar, and fellow OSCE PA Vice-President Alain Neri of France concluded, "This is why we should not focus on the history of the conflict only, but rather, on possibilities for reconciliation and co-operation in the interest of all affected human beings."
All participants insisted that local elections in the eastern part of Ukraine, as called for in the Minsk Agreements, must be held in line with OSCE commitments and monitored by election observers, with security guarantees for those observers.
Participants also discussed the need to observe developments along the Russian-Ukrainian border in order to receive as much objective information as possible.
The participation in the seminar was possible thanks to material assistance of the host party.