President Zelensky finally implemented Ukrainian legislation on the deprivation of awards of state traitors and the Kremlin’s “fifth column”.

It is worth recalling: the bills on the deprivation of awards were registered by people’s deputies of democratic factions, including from the “EU”, immediately after the full-scale invasion. But they waited three years for submission to the hall, approval and signing.

“European Solidarity” insists that it is necessary to stop the informal coalition of “Servant of the People” and the OPZH, which now actually exists in the Verkhovna Rada. Deputies who were elected from the OPZH should be deprived not only of awards, but also of mandates and the right to sit in the Verkhovna Rada!

To do this, it is necessary to vote on the resolution and bill on the deprivation of mandates of representatives of banned parties, which were registered by “Eurosolidarity” a long time ago. These bills have been pending for two years, but they are being blocked by Bankova. We demand that they be submitted to the session hall for consideration as early as February, on the first plenary day of the new session.

Deputies from banned parties must bear real, not decorative, responsibility for their anti-Ukrainian actions and calls. They must be deprived of their parliamentary mandates, not just awards.

It is surprising that the name of A. Portnov, Yanukovych’s lawyer, who still heads the Ukrainian courts, was not included in the list of sanctioned persons. Despite the fact that the petition for sanctions against Portnov gained the necessary number of votes and he is under sanctions from partner countries, the presidents office never dared to synchronize these sanctions. And this only confirms Bankova’s close ties with Portnov and the dependence of the judicial system on the “Portnov family”.

The EU joins the demands of activists and NGOs regarding the need to synchronize sanctions with our American and European partners against traitors who have Russian citizenship, in particular, Portnov, Kuzmin and others. The absence of their names in the NSDC decision is surprising, and the authorities previously allowed them to escape.

Ukraine is long overdue to synchronize the sanctions regime with its European and American partners and introduce sanctions against all criminals and traitors who have Russian passports.

As for traitors with Ukrainian citizenship, it is important to act within the Ukrainian legal framework, relying on court decisions. The EU advocates for strict political and legal responsibility for collaborators and traitors. At the same time, it is important that the Ukrainian authorities act within the legal framework, and that the National Security and Defense Council does not replace the prosecutor’s office and courts, the entire law enforcement system of the country.

It is good that the authorities have finally noticed the anti-Ukrainian activities of the fugitive Voloshyn and imposed sanctions against him. But criminal cases are still open for Voloshyn’s false libels against the warrior, hero, and our party member O. Pogrebysky. We demand that the authorities apologize to Oleksandr for the politically motivated cases and close them.

Everyone involved in advancing the Kremlin’s agenda and undermining the foundations of national security must be held accountable. And this is not about the loss of orders and medals, but about strict legal and political responsibility to Ukraine within the framework of the Ukrainian legal field.