Parliamentary delegation headed by Oleksandr Korniienko met with the leaders of the Swiss Parliament on the sidelines of the Davos Summit
17 January 2023, 21:00
The parliamentary delegation headed by the First Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko met with the leaders of the Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos: Martin Candinas, the President of the National Council (Lower House) and Brigitte Haberli-Koller, the President of the Council of the Cantons (Upper House).
First of all, the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expressed hope that Switzerland would support the efforts of the international community to bring to justice those responsible for crimes against the civilian population of Ukraine: “Establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crimes of Aggression will be a worthy response of the free states of the world to the russian terror and barbarism of the XXI century.”
“We highly appreciate the political support of Switzerland in times of russia’s full-scale military aggression and admire the solidarity of the Swiss people in response to the difficult situation in Ukraine,” emphasized Oleksandr Korniienko, adding that Switzerland categorically condemns russia’s invasion of Ukraine and supports the urgency of investigating war crimes.
At the same time, the First Vice-Speaker expressed his expectation that Switzerland would approve Ukraine’s ten-point peace plan to end russia’s war against Ukraine: “These are points about peace and justice. The ninth point of the peace formula is about guaranteed non-escalation and fixing the end of the war. This will ensure peace on the territory of Ukraine and Europe, as I have repeatedly emphasized: security in Ukraine means security beyond its borders.”
In addition, he noted that sanctions remain crucial to ensure that russia gets tired of waging war: “Our priority goal in deterring further attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure is to prevent further production and maintenance of high-tech weapons.”
“We were touched by Irene Kalin’s solidarity visit to Kyiv in April, her parliamentary panel at the URC2022 in Lugano, and her participation in the First Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimean Platform. This is the support that the Ukrainian people feel,” Oleksandr Korniienko said.
The parliamentary delegation emphasized that Ukraine is interested in further leadership of the Federal Assembly in shaping Switzerland’s policy against russia’s brutal war: “Therefore, we look forward to the statement of the Swiss Parliament on the first year of full-scale aggression against Ukraine.” “And we are sure that such extraordinary developments in Europe and its global consequences require further political assessment of the free world,” added the the First Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine.
In conclusion, Oleksandr Korniienko invited the leaders of the Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation to visit Kyiv: “I hope to meet again on Ukrainian territory.”
The meeting was also attended by Ukrainian MPs: the Head of the Budget Committee Roksolana Pidlasa, the Member of the Law Enforcement Committee Oleksandra Ustinova, the Member of the Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy Committee Alyona Shkrum, and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Swiss Confederation Iryna Venediktova.