HELSINKI – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA), meeting in Helsinki on July 5-9 at its 2015 annual session, approved a resolution condemning Russia’s actions in and around Ukraine in the context of the ongoing crisis.
Parliamentarians from three continents voted on July 8 by a margin of 96 in favor to 7 against with 32 abstentions on the resolution, which condemns Russia’s “unilateral and unjustified assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The resolution, which is titled “The Continuation of Clear, Gross and Uncorrected Violations of OSCE Commitments and International Norms by the Russian Federation,” was principally sponsored by Dean Allison, the head of Canada’s delegation to the OSCE PA. The text was a compromise version of similar items submitted by the delegations of Canada and Ukraine.
The Russian delegation to the OSCE PA was not present for the vote following its decision to not attend the 2015 annual session.
Among more than 40 clauses, the approved text “calls on the Russian Federation to stop the supply and flow of heavy weaponry, ammunition, units of the Russian armed forces and mercenaries across the Russian border into eastern Ukraine [and] cease providing any military, financial or logistical aid to illegal armed groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.”
It also underscores “the need for the Russian Federation itself to meet in full its commitments in the 2014 Minsk Agreements and the 2015 Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements, as well as to use its considerable influence over the pro-Russian illegal armed groups in certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine to do the same.”
The resolution further endorses the diplomatic efforts of the Normandy format and the work of the Trilateral Contact Group and its four working groups; calls for unhindered access for the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission for all of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea; and “underscores that the resumption of effective control over the Ukrainian-Russian border remains crucial for a sustainable de-escalation of the crisis.”
Among several clauses on the situation in Crimea, the resolution expresses the Parliamentary Assembly’s “deep concern that under conditions of occupation, the situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, continues to deteriorate, leading to serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
The text also calls on Russia to “immediately release and return to Ukraine detained pilot and member of the Verkhovna Rada, Nadiya Savchenko, filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, Oleksander Kolchenko and all other illegally detained Ukrainian citizens.”
It also urges that perpetrators of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 be held accountable.
Through the resolution, the OSCE PA “stresses the importance of meaningful and effective economic, constitutional and governance reforms in Ukraine, as well as the Government of Ukraine’s continuing efforts to fight corruption.”
The resolution was included as an annex to the Helsinki Declaration, which contains wide-ranging policy recommendations for the OSCE and its 57 participating states in the fields of political affairs and security, economics, the environment and human rights.
The declaration is the final product of the OSCE PA’s 2015 annual session, which was held in the Finnish capital to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the OSCE’s founding document, the Helsinki Final Act. The annual session took place in historic Finlandia Hall, the site of the act’s signing in 1975.
The crisis in and around Ukraine, the plight of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean region, arms control, global warming, water management, terrorism, anti-LGBT legislation and threats to civil society groups are among the topics addressed in the declaration’s 141 clauses.
The document also makes an emphatic call for OSCE participating states to renew their commitment to the tenets of the Helsinki Final Act.
In addition to the resolution condemning Russia’s violations of core OSCE principles in Ukraine, the OSCE PA also approved several other resolutions, among them a call for comprehensive legislative reform to address the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters; an appeal for enhanced cooperation on economic and environmental issues in the Arctic; and an affirmation of the need to safeguard the rights and human dignity of migrants and refugees.
A special resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly on the occasion of the Helsinki Final Act’s anniversary contains concrete recommendations for reforming the OSCE to ensure its effectiveness and efficiency. The resolution is one of the products of the OSCE PA’s Helsinki + 40 Project, which concluded this week with the presentation of its final report.
Following the adoption of the Helsinki Declaration and accompanying resolutions, OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic addressed the Parliamentary Assembly. In wide-ranging remarks, he discussed the crisis in and around Ukraine, the OSCE’s reform initiatives, and the value of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly as an “invaluable platform for promoting inclusive dialogue and joint action among OSCE participating states.”