15/05/2025 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development | Children of Ukraine
"Ukrainian children are non-negotiable. There can be no just and lasting peace without the unconditional return of all deported and forcibly transferred Ukrainian children. The safe and immediate repatriation of these children must form an integral part of any future peace agreement", today said the Chair and Vice-chair of the PACE Network on the situation of the children of Ukraine, Olena Khomenko (Ukraine, ECPA) and Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (Finland, SOC) in a common statement at the end of the Conference ‘Deported Ukrainian children: European action’, that took place in Helsinki today.
Participants in the conference included the Speaker of the Eduskunta, Jussi Halla-ahowas; EU Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath; Pia Kauma, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly; Victoria Litvinova, Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine; Ewa Kopacz, Vice-President of the EP; Dariia Zarivna, Operational Director of the "Bring Kids Back UA" Initiative; Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjord Gylfadóttir, Special Envoy of the Council of Europe Secretary General on the situation of children of Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and PACE Secretary General Despina Chatzivassiliou.
The conference, which brought together different representatives of European parliamentary assemblies, gave the participants the opportunity to co-ordinate their joint actions in support of children deported to the Russian Federation and Belarus. Subjects discussed included accountability and restoration of justice regarding the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children, and the modalities for their possible return, as well as their future needs, rehabilitation and reintegration.
