During the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, France, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Deputy Speaker of the Saeima and Head of the Latvian delegation to PACE, called for seizing Russian assets to support Ukraine.

The establishment of a special international tribunal is needed as soon as possible to investigate and prosecute the political and military leadership of the Russian Federation for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. While implementing the Riga Principles, adopted in September, it is also crucial to ensure that Russia bear full financial responsibility for its aggression against Ukraine and provide compensations for all victims of the war, said Kalniņa-Lukaševica during the PACE plenary session.

“We have made the first steps towards holding Russia accountable, but there is still a long way to go: a prompt development of a comprehensive compensation mechanism is needed to enable seizing or otherwise using Russia’s assets to support and rebuild Ukraine,” said the Deputy Speaker of the Saeima.

“We will encounter even more aggression if we cannot solve and prevent such unacceptable violations of the United Nations Charter and deter aggressors from full-scale military invasions,” emphasised Kalniņa-Lukaševica.

The Deputy Speaker of the Saeima expressed her support for the report’s call on the world’s parliaments to provide the necessary budget for supporting Ukraine, work on the development of an effective system for holding Russia accountable, and redouble all efforts to ensure the reunion of the deported Ukrainian children with their families.

Another clear demand of PACE is the immediate and unconditional liberation of Ukrainian civilians who have disappeared due to Russia’s actions, underlined Kalniņa-Lukaševica during the debate.

The Head of the Latvian delegation also stressed that PACE’s decision to acknowledge the Great Ukrainian Famine, or Golodomor, as genocide, was another significant turning point, and the parliaments of the member states are also urged to make similar decisions. As far as back then, the purpose of the genocide was to destroy a nation.

This week, during its autumn session, PACE drafted and adopted the report “Ensuring a just peace in Ukraine and lasting security in Europe.” The PACE autumn session, held on 9-13 October, gathers parliamentarians from 46 member states.

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Saeima Press Service