Ruslan Stefanchuk: We urge Austrian colleagues to join in working out legislative mechanisms to punish Russia for starting the war

Informatiion Department
Published on 15 June 2022, at 08:06

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, met with the Leader of the Liberal Party "NEOS" Beate Meinl-Reisinger

Along with the issue of victory in the war, the issue of justice is no less critical for Ukraine: the aggressor must be given a fair legal verdict, – noted Ruslan Stefanchuk.

"Those who started this war must repay, make reparations for everything they did in Ukraine so that putin and the russian oligarchs pay for these crimes," noted the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament and called on Austrian colleagues to join in the development of legislative mechanisms that will ensure the confiscation of assets of Russia and their use for reparations.

“Modern jurisprudence is not ready for such challenges, and we need to create new special statuses and structures. For example, the status of "aggressor country" when a country recognized as an aggressor should have fewer rights than other countries, including as for state immunity. In addition, all related parties must be subjected to certain reputational pressure. Then other mechanisms can be designed. We are ready to cooperate with your best lawyers to work out this construction – the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament assured.

In addition, Ruslan Stefanchuk asked the Austrian Parliament, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor in Ukraine, to adopt a resolution recognizing this tragedy as genocide of the Ukrainian people and recognizing as genocide the crimes that russia is committing in Ukraine today. This would be an important part of the International Criminal Court's investigation into russia's war crimes.

The Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament also called on his Austrian colleagues not to forget about Ukraine and not get tired of the brutal war waged by russia.

"The Ukrainian soldier on the front line, defending Ukraine and the whole world, does not feel tired. They feel one desire – to bring victory as soon as possible… That is why I have one appeal to my fellow parliamentarians – do not be indifferent, " Ruslan Stefanchuk stressed.

For her part, the leader of the NEOS Liberal Party, Beate Meinl-Reisinger, expressed admiration for the Ukrainian Parliament did not cease its activities during the war and assured of continued cooperation and strengthening inter-parliamentary ties between the two parliaments.

In addition, she assured that resolutions recognizing the Holodomor and russian crimes as genocide in Ukraine are already underway and expressed hope that the world international community will support them in this.

As for the freezing and confiscating of the assets of russian oligarchs or companies, Beate Meinl-Reisinger assured that Austrian parliamentarians would study this issue and make their contribution as much as possible, for example, to forensic science and more.

At the end of the meeting, Ruslan Stefanchuk invited Beate Meinl-Reisinger to visit Ukraine in the near future.