People of Ukraine must come first, Russia must end this war, say OSCE leaders
24 February 2023 — The OSCE Troika —Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto — and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid, President of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Margareta Cederfelt and Secretary General Roberto Montella made the following statement:
“Today we mark one year since the people of Ukraine were forced to stand strong against Russia’s illegal, unjustifiable and unprovoked war of aggression in their country. Their resilience and courage in the face of unimaginable and senseless destruction is deeply inspiring.
Thousands have died. Millions have been forced to flee their homes. Whole cities have been razed. The untold human suffering of this humanitarian crisis is ravaging Ukraine and it is felt well beyond its borders. The magnitude of the destruction is immense and continues to increase.
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This war is a threat to European and global security and stability. It is an enormous human tragedy. It is crucial to ensure accountability for violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law. Russia must be held accountable for all violations of international law.
We must ensure that there is no impunity for international crimes committed in and against Ukraine, including for war crimes and the crime of aggression committed in Ukraine. Its perpetrators should be prosecuted before the appropriate court.
Our message today is clear: Russia’s aggression must stop. Russia must end its violations of international law as well as of the principles and commitments of the OSCE.
We stand by Ukraine in its time of need and fully support its sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders and recognize its inherent right to self-defence.
We reiterate our demand for Russia to immediately stop its war and fully and unconditionally withdraw from Ukraine.
We strongly emphasize the role of the OSCE in upholding the European security order. We shall continue to use this platform to support Ukraine.”
The OSCE continues to do all it can to support the people, government, and civil society of Ukraine. The Organization’s dedicated team is now working on more than 20 projects that include supporting humanitarian de-mining efforts, combating human trafficking, improving disaster risk reduction, and addressing environmental impacts of the war.
The OSCE Troika was established at the Helsinki Summit in 1992 to bring continuity to the Organization’s leadership. It is a format of co-operation between the present, previous and incoming Chairpersonships.
