Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk announced this at the 11th session of the inter-parliamentary assembly of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Sejm of Lithuania, as well as the Sejm and the Senate of Poland. The session of the assembly was held in Warsaw on December 6.
Stefanchuk called parliamentary delegations of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania to increase their activity at international platforms. “It is important that our countries remain active, particularly our delegations at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament,” Stefanchuk stressed.
The Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament voiced hope that the countries of the Lublin Triangle (Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania) would succeed in consolidating efforts of the world community in the face of new elements of hybrid pressure by Russia and Belarus.
Stefanchuk pointed to “purposeful provocations by Belarus and the Russian Federation at borders with our countries, particularly the increasing military presence of Russia in Belarus, the continuous escalation of the Russian Federation in the east of Ukraine, the illegal occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the build-up of Russian troops at the border with Ukraine, a growing Russian factor in Europe, disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks targeted against our countries.”
According to Stefanchuk, Ukraine is deeply concerned over the situation at the Polish border with Belarus. “Today we stand in full solidarity with the Polish side. Artificially designed, the migration crisis is engineered by Russia and Belarus and directed against our countries,” said the Ukrainian speaker. He believes that the migrant crisis is a challenge to the entire civilized world and a test for the European Union and NATO to prove their ability to be united in their efforts to deal effectively with modern-day challenges and threats.
Belarus has intentionally created the migration crisis at its borders with Lithuania, Latvia and Poland. Thousands of illegal immigrants from Iraq, Syria and countries of North Africa continue to come to Minsk while the Belorussian border service helps them in their attempts to get into the European Union.
Analysts claim that such actions of the regime of Lukashenko are his response to Western sanctions and perhaps he tries in this way to divert the attention of the world community from Russia’s preparations for a new act of aggression against Ukraine.
The head of the Ukrainian Parliament thanked the parliamentarians of Poland and Lithuania for their unwavering support for Ukraine’s aspirations for membership in the European Union and NATO as well as for their active participation in the work of the Lublin Triangle and the Crimean Platform.
“I am sure today’s challenges strengthen our friendship and partnership. Our solidarity and cooperation are based on common history, European values and mutual respect,” noted Ruslan Stefanchuk.
Russia will be made fully answerable for a possible escalation of the conflict, reads the final joint statement of the 11th session of the inter-parliamentary assembly. The official document was signed in Warsaw by the heads of the parliaments of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania. Verkhovna Rada Chairman of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk, Senate Marshal of Polish Sejm Tomasz Grodzki and Lithuanian Sejm Speaker Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen were the signatories to the joint press statement.
The document reads, “The inter-parliamentary assembly of the Verkhovna Rada, the Sejm of Lithuania and the Sejm and the Senate of Poland are concerned over the concentration of troops of the Russian Federation near the border with Ukraine which contradicts the principle of containing the military threat and the use of force… The assembly regards Russia as a side of the conflict which will bear the full responsible for a possible escalation of the conflict unless it refuses to continue its aggressive actions.”
The parliamentarians of Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland condemned the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the illegal annexation of the Crimea. The heads of the parliaments called to “toughen sanctions against the Russian Federation until the full restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”
Note: The Lublin Triangle is a trilateral regional alliance set up to promote political, economic and social cooperation among Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania for the purpose of intensifying a dialog among these three nations and supporting Ukraine’s integration into the European Union and NATO.
The trilateral format is based on common traditions and historical ties among these countries. The joint declaration about the format’s creation was signed by these countries’ foreign ministers in the Polish city of Lublin on July 28, 2020.
The newspaper Voice of Ukraine
