The Verkhovna Rada permanent delegation took part in the 65th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in London – 11-15 October, 2019
The participating team consisted of its head Yehor
Cherniev, his two deputies Mariana Bezuhla, Solomiia Bobrovska, and members of
parliament Halyna Mykhailiuk, Serhii Larin, Petro Poroshenko, Ivanna
Klympush-Tsyntsadze, Andrii Klochko and Oksana Yurynets as observer. All of them did work in five NATO PA
committees (defence and security, economics and security, science and technology,
civil dimension of security, and political committee), participating in the
plenary session as well.
Around six hundred delegates, including parliamentarians from NATO member states, associate states, observers, members of the UK government and defence experts, attended the Parliamentary Assembly.
Ukrainian delegates held an array of bilateral meetings, in particular with the President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Madeleine Moon, the Head of the UA-UK inter-parliamentary friendship group John Whittingdale, representatives of American, Georgian (Sakartvelian), Canadian, Lithuanian, Latvian, German and Croatian delegations.
The assembly and committees’ agenda covered security and political issues as well as the question of developing cooperation of the Alliance with the partner states, and Ukraine, in particular.
Among the bottom lines of the sitting of the NATO PA committee on economics and security, there was refusal of the most controversial report vindicating impracticability of economic sanctions against Russia as leverage of pressure upon the aggressor country. The Ukrainian side delivered some important reservations about the paper.
In his speech, the Ukrainian delegation head stressed utter importance of further keeping sanctions against the Russian Federation. To his mind, the sanctions should have a cumulative effect, which later on might bring the struggle against the aggressor to turning point.
Following the work of the standing committees and the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly, there were approved a number of reports, resolutions and amendments rendered, in particular, by Ukrainian delegates.
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly shall meet next time in May, 2020 in Kyiv.