During the working visit to Bahrain, the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation headed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko held a number of meetings, including meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain and representatives of the Upper House of the National Assembly of Bahrain. Ukrainian delegates also held a session on mine action on the sidelines of the 146th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
“We thank Bahrain for supporting all resolutions on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. During the meeting with the representatives of the Upper House of the National Assembly of Bahrain, we discussed the situation in Ukraine,” said the First Vice Speaker, adding that the russian aggression affected everyone and caused a problem of food security: “But our country is a reliable guarantor of global food security. We want to strengthen this status”.
“Ukraine is making every effort to mobilise all available resources. For us, demining is already a very large-scale and complex work. However, the needs remain. That is why we drew the attention of the participants to the most urgent needs of Ukraine to save civilian lives from the threat of russian mines,” said Oleksandr Korniienko during the demining session.
“Such a meeting should become an impetus for the involvement of parliaments of the world’s states in the difficult but necessary demining. It is critically important for us to unite the countries of the West and the countries of the Global South in a coalition against the aggressor and murderer – russia. We called on our partners to support Ukraine in liberating our territory from mines and bombs. Especially those countries that have already faced a similar situation: Cambodia, Croatia, Chile, Bosnia, Kosovo, Georgia, whose representatives shared their experience in this matter. Unfortunately, the problem of mining is not new and exists on every continent,” said Aliona Shkrum, the MP of Ukraine.
In addition, the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Oleksandr Merezhko held a working meeting with the Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani.
“During the meeting, the Ukrainian delegation expressed satisfaction with the state of bilateral cooperation and discussed the deepening of relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Ukraine in various spheres, including parliamentary,” said the First Vice Speaker.
At the same time, the parliamentary delegation continued to work actively on the sidelines of the Assembly. The delegates from Ukraine took part in meetings of the Executive Committee, the Committee on Sustainable Development, the UN Committee, the Committee on Peace and Security, and the Bureau of the Women’s Forum.
During the meeting of the Sustainable Development Committee, with the participation of the Ukrainian MPs Oleksandr Merezhko and Artur Gerasymov, five draft resolutions were presented, including those of the Ukrainian delegation, in particular, on ecocide and its criminalisation in both military and civilian contexts. According to Oleksandr Merezhko, the russians also submitted a draft resolution on complete security, which “of course, is incredible hypocrisy”.
Projects from Tanzania, India and the UAE were also presented at the meeting. As a result, it was decided to approve the projects of India, the UAE and Ukraine and combine them into one resolution. The representatives of India, the UAE and Ukraine were appointed as rapporteurs to prepare the resolution. The Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko will be the reporter for the year.
At the same time, the Ukrainian MP Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi took part in the UN Committee meeting, where a number of important decisions were made for the final resolution of the Assembly.
The main outcome of the meeting of the Assembly’s Executive Committee, which was attended by the representative of Ukraine, Lesia Vasylenko, was the consideration of the anthem of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. “The IPU should have its own anthem. Most likely, the delegates will approve it at a meeting of the Union’s Board of Directors, which the Ukrainian delegation will also participate in,” said the parliamentarian.
In addition to committee meetings, the Ukrainian delegation also had bilateral meetings with the delegations of Japan and the Comoros.
During the meeting with the delegation of the Comoros, Ukrainian delegates were assured of support. Namely, that Ukraine can always count on support, including in the African Union, where the Comoros holds the presidency this year. The members of the delegation promised to help advocate Ukraine’s position in the world, to help cooperate with the African Union and deepen cooperation.
The delegation includes members of the Ukrainian Parliament: the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Oleksandr Merezhko, the Member of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management Lesia Vasylenko, the Member of the Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy Aliona Shkrum, the Member of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Olha Rudenko, the Member of the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy Artur Herasymov, the Head of the Subcommittee on Anti-Corruption Policy in the Field of Digital Innovations and Public Data of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi and the Member of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Oleksandr Sanchenko.
For reference. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is a global organisation of national parliaments. It was founded more than 133 years ago as the world’s first multilateral political organisation to promote cooperation and dialogue among all nations.
Today, the IPU is made up of 178 national parliaments and 14 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes democracy and helps parliaments become stronger, younger, more gender-balanced and more representative.
During the 146th IPU Assembly in Bahrain, hundreds of parliamentarians from around the world are expected to take part in the discussion on the theme “Promoting peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies: combating intolerance”.
During the Assembly, the IPU will offer opportunities to share best practices to promote inclusion and support peaceful coexistence as a precondition for sustainable, cohesive and democratic societies.
