"Ukraine needs badly to considerably strengthen its advocacy activities and widen its awareness raising campaigns in the Council of Europe and the PACE," -- Olena Kondratiuk, the vice speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
In harness with the president’s office and the foreign affairs ministry, the parliament should extensively strengthen its staffing and advocacy policies pursued by Ukrainian CoE and PACE delegations.
This was declared by the vice speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk during today’s sitting of the Conciliation Commission.
Commenting on the results of the Ukrainian delegation's participation in the European Conference of the Presidents of Parliament of the Council of Europe member states, she drew the audience’s attention to a set of urgent steps that are needed to be taken in the immediate future in order to stiffen Ukraine's position at this organization.
It is needed at first to better the staff complement of Ukraine’s permanent mission to the Council of Europe, and, afterwards, a head of the mission should be appointed at last. It is also needed to set up a high-level inter-agency ad hoc group to coordinate activities and carry out the advocacy work within the Council of Europe.
A clear-cut common position and strategy for the participation of the Verkhovna Rada delegation in the PACE Winter Session should also be jointly developed.
Among other pressing issues, there are organizing and coordinating activities of the ‘Baltik Plus Group’, which is in solidarity with our country and consistently supports Ukraine, as well as preliminaries for a December visit to Ukraine by the 14th Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric.
“It is equally necessary to maintain close cooperation with representatives of the Venice Commission, whose mission has been in Ukraine since October 25 aiming to study the implementation of the law "On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language," Olena Kondratiuk stressed as a final point.