“One of the important outcomes of the 62nd PABSEC General Assembly, which took place in Kyiv these days, was the adoption of the Declaration in which the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation strongly condemned the aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine, which began in 2014 and expanded to full-scale military aggression and invasion in 2022,” said the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk.
He noted that by this document, the PABSEC also expressed solidarity and support for Ukraine in light of russia’s unprovoked, unjustified, large-scale aggression against Ukraine, which undermined the very essence of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation aimed at “transforming the Black Sea region into a region of peace, stability and prosperity”, as stated by the BSEC founding members.
In addition, the participants of the 62nd PABSEC General Assembly called on russia to immediately cease its military aggression and withdraw all its military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, condemned russia’s attacks on Ukrainian ports and grain infrastructure in the Black Sea and Danube and called on russia to stop threatening global food security.
At the same time, the PABSEC supported the establishment of a special tribunal for the crime of russian aggression against Ukraine and decided to create the working group on preparation of the further comprehensive amendments to the PABSEC Rules of Procedure in order to establish an effective and reliable mechanism for consideration and decision-making on the suspension or expulsion of national delegations, in case their countries grossly violate the aims and objectives of the Organization, and their parliaments directly support such actions.
Finally, the participants called on russia to immediately release the children and minor adolescents abducted from Ukraine into the care of the Ukrainian authorities without delay so that they can return to their parents and families or legal guardians.
The text of the
adopted Declaration is available in English.
