Herashchenko: We are preparing a harsh reaction to PACE's declaration
On the 25th of June, People’s Deputy of Ukraine Iryna Herashchenko wrote on her Facebook that the Ukrainian delegation to PACE is disappointed by the statement of the President of PACE, Pedro Agramunt, who proposed and endorsed the statement on the shared values of PACE with the Russian Federation.
“On Friday, the President of PACE, Pedro Agramunt, who sneaked the statement to the Bureau and supported it, showed himself in all his glory. Agramunt supported the statement that PACE has shared values with Russia and it’s time to return the Russian delegation to Strasbourg. The Ukrainian delegation isn’t just disappointed by such sacrilege. The Chairman of the Ukrainian delegation in PACE, Volodymyr Ariev, left the Bureau in protest and made a statement about the unacceptability of such a violation of the principles of PACE itself,” Herashchenko noted.
“Firstly, we don’t have shared values with a country that violates international law and seizes the territories of another sovereign State. We don’t have common values with a country, where prisoners are tortured, a country that kills children and Ukrainian civilians, isn’t abiding by its obligations under resolutions by PACE, spits on the Budapest Memorandum and Minsk Agreements, votes in favor of war and wages war, implements another genocide against the Crimean Tatars and acts like a true successor of Stalin’s regime,” the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada stated.
“We don’t share these values and doubt that any European country can share such values and are ready to state this publicly. We have already prepared a letter from our delegation to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, with a demand to explain his response at the PACE session. We will address the delegations of other PACE member States with a request to support us in this position,” the People’s Deputy of Ukraine reported.
“Also, we are preparing a harsh response to the actions of Pedro Agramunt. I’m sure that only a strict and active position on the international front will make sure Europeans do not forget about Crimea, Donbas and those principles,” Herashchenko added. On the 24th of June, the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted the declaration on shared values with the Russian Federation and the need to move towards one another.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pavlo Klimkin, stated that he is disappointed by the declaration by PACE on the need to move towards Russia.