On the 40th day of the war, on 4 April 2022, a meeting of the Bureau of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly was held which is the governing body of the OSCE PA. Ukrainian parliamentarian Artur Gerasymov, who is Vice-Chair of the OSCE PA Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and the Environment, and also Ambassador of Ukraine to Denmark Mykhailo Vydoinyk attended this meeting.
The Ukrainian delegation reported on the situation in Ukraine in connection with the Russian invasion, in particular, it drew attention to the war crimes committed by Russian troops on command of the Russian leadership in the Ukrainian cities of Bucha, Irpin and Gostomel.
Member of the Verkhovna Rada Artur Gerasymov noted that the Ukrainian delegation to OSCE PA has been warning of escalation for the past eight years. He described the horrendous losses inflicted on the civilian population of Ukraine by the Russian invasion and called on OSCE parliamentarians to impose stronger sanctions against Russia, as “half-measures” would only lead to further violence.
Ambassador Mykhailo Vydoinyk said that Russia started the war not only with Ukraine, but also with the existing security order established after the Second World War, with international humanitarian law, against humanity and civilization. “Pain, death and destruction. This is what Russia brought to Ukrainian soil. Unspeakable deliberate cruelty and violence against civilians. Inhuman cynicism and fascist terror,” said the Ukrainian Ambassador.
It was noted that an occupying country, an aggressor country, a murderous country cannot continue to be a member of international organizations that have been created to prevent war.
The OSCE PA President Margareta Cederfelt, in turn, informed about the activities of the organization in order to stop the war. Members of the OSCE Bureau stressed the need to ensure legal accountability for war crimes committed in Ukraine. It was also emphasized that Europe should already be thinking about the post-war period and how to rebuild both Ukraine and the European security order.
The meeting also heard reports from the rapporteurs of the three General Committees, which are preparing resolutions for the OSCE PA annual session to be held this summer in the United Kingdom (2-6 July 2022, Birmingham). The focus was on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as other issues facing the OSCE region as a whole – the energy transition, combating human trafficking, sustainable development, climate change, demographic challenges, economic interdependence, migration management, etc.