Participants of the Global Parliamentary Congress: the future of democracy lies on the battlefield in Ukraine

Press release, 12 May 2023

 

Emanuelis Zingeris, Deputy Chair of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Signatory to the Act of Independence, who spoke at the Plenary Session 2 titled the Future of Democracy at the Global Parliamentary Congress the Future of the World, is convinced that the war launched by Russia in Ukraine not only infringes on the sovereignty of this country and the right to self-determination of the nation, but also constitutes an attack by the aggressor on the highest democratic ideals, namely, the right to free self-determination of peoples, human rights and freedoms.

 

According to the Lithuanian MP, this unjustified, unprovoked and illegal war against a neighbouring country was launched by the state that is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

 

‘This flagrant violation of international law has undermined the very idea of the United Nations. Since its very establishment, the main objective of the United Nations has been to unite countries and ensure their peaceful coexistence. Moreover, even a greater paradox is that in April, Russia took over the presidency of the United Nations Security Council, the key institution for ensuring international peace, after being recognised as a terrorist state or a sponsor of terrorism by the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic. It is outrageous that on 30 September 2022 the United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a resolution condemning the referendums in the occupied territories of Ukraine as the result of Russia’s veto and despite the support for the resolution by all the other countries’, says Mr Zingeris.

Photo by Olga Posaškova, Office of the Seimas

 

He believes that the reform of the UN Security Council must be addressed very seriously. ‘The role of the United Nations General Assembly needs to be strengthened, especially in matters of international peace and security’.

 

The Lithuanian politician stresses that the international community must step up efforts for the establishment of the special tribunal for the investigation of the crimes of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, as this would allow bringing to justice not only those who directly perpetrated the war crimes in Ukraine, but also the Russian civilian and military leadership who gave orders to start the war, set up filtration camps, and sanctioned the systematic killings and torture. It is also necessary to provide for effective forms of reparation for the victims of these crimes.

 

Democracy needs fostering rather than only protection

 

André Gattolin, Senator of the French Republic, is convinced that democracy in Europe, especially in the West, is currently weaker and its future is threatened. In the face of the war in Ukraine, the Senator calls for a recognition that rather than being naive or blind, we were in denial of the reality of Russia’s decline from a failing democracy towards an aggressive and essentially totalitarian regime. ‘When I was first elected as Senator 12 years ago, I remember being surprised by the extensive and very active pro-Russian and pro-Chinese lobbying in the French Parliament. Luckily, the situation has changed,’ he says.

 

Michał Tomasz Kamiński, Deputy Marshal of the Polish Senate, argues that the future of democracy today lies on the battlefield in Ukraine. In his opinion, our community of democracies should adopt the strategy of taking the same approach towards our adversaries as they demonstrate towards us, which is acting solely for our own benefit.

 

According to Oleksandr Merezhko, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, today Ukraine has become a symbol of the struggle for freedom. The politician also reiterates that the future of democracy and humanity is being decided on the battlefields in Ukraine, and that it is therefore very important for the whole free democratic world to support Ukraine in any way possible. Democracy needs fostering rather than only protection.

Photo by Olga Posaškova, Office of the Seimas

 

Sergei Davidis, Co-chair of the Human Rights Defence Center Memorial, believes that the international community’s tolerance of violations of democratic standards and human rights has been one of the factors that has enabled the Kremlin regime over the years to build the foundation for the current large-scale war of aggression. In his view, in our future relations with Russia we will need to correct our old mistakes and avoid new ones, to be much more consistent than before in putting human rights and democratic principles first, and to engage with the Russian civil society and maintain dialogue with it.

 

Khatia Dekanoidze, Member of the Parliament of Georgia, gave an overview of Georgia’s prospects for European integration. She argues that, despite the anti-Western stance of the Georgian government, recent polls show that 85% of Georgians want to be part of Europe and NATO.

 

Plenary Session 2 of the Congress also included interventions by Oleksiy Goncharenko, Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; Vadim Prokhorov, Russian opposition lawyer; Rosa María Payá Acevedo, Cuban human rights activist; Hugo Antonio Acha, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for a Secure Free Society; Tom Hashimoto, Associate Professor at Vilnius University and Director of the Baltic Institute of Economics and International Relations; Anatol Liabedzka, Adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Constitutional Reform and Parliamentary Cooperation, and Director of the European Dialogue Center; Natalia Pinchuk, spouse of Ales Bialiatsky, Nobel Prise winner and political prisoner in Belarus; and Paul Massaro, Policy Advisor to the US Helsinki Commission.

Photo by Olga Posaškova, Office of the Seimas

 

The photos of the event are published on the Flickr account of the Seimas and are free for use provided they bear the indication of the source.

Video recordings are available on the Seimas YouTube channel Atviras Seimas (Open Seimas).

 

Find out more on the Congress here.

 

Rimas Rudaitis, Adviser, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]