Written declaration No. 707 | Doc. 15063 | 31 January 2020

The members of national delegations signing this declaration regret the approval, by the Assembly, of the credentials submitted by the Russian Federation

Signatories: Ms Yelyzaveta YASKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Boriana ÅBERG, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Irakli BERAIA, Georgia, SOC ; Ms Larysa BILOZIR, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Algirdas BUTKEVIČIUS, Lithuania, SOC ; Mr Andrian CANDU, Republic of Moldova, SOC ; Mr Alexander CHRISTIANSSON, Sweden, EC/DA ; Ms Annicka ENGBLOM, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Sir Roger GALE, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Ms Marija GOLUBEVA, Latvia, ALDE ; Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Mr Serhii KALCHENKO, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Mr Yuriy KAMELCHUK, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Giorgi KANDELAKI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Arin KARAPET, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Olena KHOMENKO, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Ms Sopio KILADZE, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Irakli KOBAKHIDZE, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Oleksandr KOVALCHUK, Ukraine, ALDE ; Ms Yevheniia KRAVCHUK, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Kakhaber KUTCHAVA, Georgia, SOC ; Ms Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Mr Dmytro LUBINETS, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Kęstutis MASIULIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Oleksandr MEREZHKO, Ukraine, SOC ; Ms Mariia MEZENTSEVA, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Killion MUNYAMA, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Dmytro NATALUKHA, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Ms Yuliia OVCHYNNYKOVA, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Martin POLIAČIK, Slovak Republic, ALDE ; Mr Mihail POPSOI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Oleksandr SKICHKO, Ukraine, SOC ; Mr Serhii SOBOLIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr David SONGULASHVILI, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Birgir THÓRARINSSON, Iceland, EPP/CD ; Ms Lesia VASYLENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Sergiy VLASENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Liviu VOVC, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Markus WIECHEL, Sweden, EC/DA ; Mr Emanuelis ZINGERIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

While we do not agree with the approval of the Russian credentials, we expect that the Russian Federation will, in return, both respect the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in full and meet the requirements of Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1990 (2014), Resolution 2034 (2015), Resolution 2063 (2015) and Resolution 2292 (2019).

These resolutions condemn the annexation of Crimea in breach of Article 3 of the Statute, ongoing military aggression by the Russian Federation in Donetsk and Lugansk regions, failure of the Russian Federation to implement Resolution 1633 (2008), Resolution 1647 (2009), Resolution 1664 (2009), Resolution 1683 (2009), Resolution 1648 (2009) and Resolution 1916 (2013) in respect of the occupation of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia and express “utmost concern” at the treatment of Crimean Tatars.

We demand the Russian Federation to implement the resolutions, inсluding Resolution 2297 (2019) and Resolution 2252 (2019), addressing democracy erosion in the Russian Federation itself.

We require that all human rights violations made in breach of the ECHR are immediately addressed by the returning delegation and by the Russian Government and we hold to the view that the perpetuation of breaches of the ECHR and the continued occupation of parts of the territories of Ukraine and Georgia will lay the representatives of the Russian Federation open to further sanction.