11/12/2013 Political Affairs and Democracy
The Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), meeting in Paris today, calls on all sides in Ukraine to refrain from any acts of violence and intimidation which will further undermine the stability of the country, including its democratic process. As a member State of the Council of Europe, sharing the values upheld by the organisation, Ukraine should fully respect European standards on freedom of assembly, expression and association.
The committee expressed concern at the violent escalation of the crisis in Ukraine by all sides, in particular following yesterday’s intervention by special police forces and recent acts of intimidation by the police against one of the main opposition parties, as well as media outlets.
It urges all sides to engage in political dialogue aiming at a peaceful resolution to the current crisis, and to pursue democratic reforms.
The committee welcomes the Council of Europe Secretary General's initiative to set up an expert advisory panel to oversee the investigation into the violent incidents in Kyiv on 30 November and 1 December 2013.
It calls on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure immediate access for the Parliamentary Assembly's monitoring co-rapporteurs to visit the country. At the same time, the Political Affairs Committee decided to set up an ad hoc sub-committee on the situation in Ukraine, which should visit the country as soon as possible.
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At its meeting, the Committee also decided, following the recent developments in Kyiv, to constitute an ad hoc Sub-Committee on the situation in Ukraine for the purpose of visiting the country as soon as possible in order to exchange views with all actors concerned and report back to the Committee.
The following members, representing the 5 political groups, were designated to the ad hoc Sub-Committee:
- Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG)
- Corneliu Cozmanciuc (Romania, ALDE)
- Tadeusz Iwinski (Poland, SOC)
- Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL)
- Emanuelis Zingeris (Lithuania, EPP/CD)
The committee decided that this ad hoc Sub-Committee should visit Kyiv as soon as possible.