NATO PA adopts the declaration of support for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic course and countering Russian aggression

Informatiion Department
31 May 2022, 10:44



The spring session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly took place on 27 and 30 May in the capital of the Republic of Lithuania, Vilnius. As a result, the NATO PA issued a declaration calling on Allied governments to take concrete next steps to advance Ukraine's membership in NATO and strengthen Russia's opposition.

 "The spring session of the NATO PA demonstrated extraordinary support to Ukraine by consolidating it with a relevant document. This should signal to the putin regime and its supporters that russia's full-scale unprovoked war against Ukraine, all killings, torture and abuse, and all the evil that the russian federation is doing will be punished," said the First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Oleksandr Korniyenko.

According to Yegor Chernev, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, all significant amendments from the Ukrainian delegation were taken into account:
"In the end, we managed to achieve the toughest declaration of the Assembly's existence."

In particular, the official website of the NATO PA notes that more than 200 lawmakers from about 30 NATO countries unanimously approved the "Standing with Ukraine" declaration, which "strongly condemned the war started by Russia."

Among the points set out in the adopted declaration, the NATO PA calls for support for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration and increased supplies of heavy weapons, including air defense, anti-missile systems, anti-ship systems, and artillery, as well as increased intelligence sharing.

In addition, the document calls for scaling up destructive sanctions against russia and gradually abandoning imports of coal, gas, oil, and uranium from russia.  

Support for Ukraine also includes the imposition of additional sanctions against russian oligarchs, officials, and their families, as well as against propagandists and state media.

In addition, the NATO PA insists on expelling russian diplomats engaged in hostile activities from NATO countries. In particular, the spread of hatred, misinformation, and incitement to conflict.

The document emphasizes the need to establish a special International Tribunal to investigate, prosecute and prosecute those responsible for the aggression against Ukraine.

The act also sets out in NATO's updated Strategic Concept to identify russia's revisionism and aggressive actions as an immediate and major threat to Euro-Atlantic security and strengthen the Alliance's eastern flank. This includes significantly strengthening NATO's military capabilities, including nuclear ones, to deter russia.

"The NATO PA Declaration is a document that is taken into account in decision-making both at Allied headquarters and in the governments of NATO member states," said Yegor Chernev, adding that the adoption of such a document means that after returning home, parliamentarians will lobby for this decision in the parliaments of their countries, which is vital for the ratification of any documents related to support for Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions against russia.

Chernev also thanked his Polish counterpart, the Head of the Polish Permanent Delegation to NATO, and the Member of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Michal Szczerba, for supporting Ukraine at all levels: Poland can always count on our mutual support and assistance. "

For his part, Michal Szczerba called on Allies to step up humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine, support an initiative to hold Russian and Belarusian leaders accountable under international law and agree on the next steps support Ukraine's integration into NATO.

 "Our Ukrainian friends and partners have been clear: they will not bend. And neither will we,” said Gerald Connolly, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

"Our positions on the diplomatic front have significantly strengthened, and the strategic goal – joining the EU and NATO – has become closer," said Yegor Chernev, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

 "The world remains on the side of truth. The world remains with Ukraine. Any timely decision can save lives, and we are grateful to the NATO PA for its position and adoption of such an important declaration in support of our country, " said First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Oleksandr Kornyienko. He also stressed that Ukraine expects that in a few weeks at the NATO summit in Madrid, strategic and bold decisions will be made "to end this brutal war and strengthen the security of Ukraine, and at the same time – the whole democratic society."