17:22 20.10.2016

Rada endorses Declaration of Remembrance and Solidarity with Poland over WWII, Russian aggression

3 min read
Rada endorses Declaration of Remembrance and Solidarity with Poland over WWII, Russian aggression

The Ukrainian parliament has adopted the Joint Declaration of Remembrance and Solidarity with Poland over World War II events and Russia's current aggression against Ukraine.

Corresponding resolution No. 5280 was backed by 243 lawmakers at a plenary session of the Ukrainian parliament on Thursday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.

The mention of the Lithuanian Seimas was taken out from the text of the document passed by the Ukrainian parliament. It was planned earlier that the document will be adopted by parliaments of three countries - Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania.

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy said that relevant committees of the parliaments of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania supported this declaration.

However, Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs Hanna Hopko explained: "There will be no more sittings of the [Lithuanian] parliament in its present composition. The new composition of the Seimas will start working only in the latter half of December of this year. Therefore, together with our Polish counterparts, we decided to adopt the declaration of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, to which the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania will be able to join later."

The document describes a great historical sacrifice of the people of Poland and Ukraine to protect their freedom and independence.

"Representatives of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine jointly and simultaneously pass this declaration of remembrance and solidarity to honor the memory of millions of lives lost by our people during World War II. They condemn the foreign aggressors who tried to destroy our independence," the draft declaration reads.

The two countries' parliaments also said the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on August 23, 1939 between the two totalitarian regimes lead to the occupation of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union and mass repressions against the Ukrainian and Polish peoples.

"We believe in the need to intensify unbiased historical research and the need to curb the forces that breed tension between our countries," the declaration reads.

In addition, the document draws attention to the fact that "the implementation of aggressive foreign policy by the Russian Federation, the occupation of Crimea, support and conduct of military intervention in eastern Ukraine, violation of the basic norms of international law and agreements concluded with Ukraine, the Kremlin's failure to observe these agreements and waging hybrid information warfare are a threat to peace and security throughout Europe."

The document also says: "We stress the need for united actions as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization against new threats and support the deepening of cooperation between the Alliance and Ukraine and its strategic goal of acquiring NATO membership. We call on all European partners to show unity and international solidarity and protect the united Europe from the external aggression."

The Sejm of Poland is also scheduled to vote for the joint declaration on Thursday.

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