EYCA adopts a resolution on Ukraine
The Steering Committee of the European Year of Citizenship Alliance – EYCA, a partner of OBESSU, adopted a Resolution on the situation in Ukraine on 4th of March.
“On Thursday 20 February 2014, the European Year of Citizenship Alliance declared that “Ukrainian citizens should not have to choose between giving-up their expectations or entering a civil war.”
We are therefore deeply concerned by recent developments in Ukraine, especially over the previous two days. The claims by a permanent member of the UN Security Council that it has a “duty” to intervene militarily inside an independent Ukraine is not in the interests of the people of Ukraine or the Crimea.
As representatives of organised civil society in the European Union, we believe that the descent into a military confrontation would have an impact on the interests of citizens in both Russia and Ukraine, especially in the areas of democracy, transparency, solidarity, social equity and social inclusion. We support the present Ukrainian civil society organisations’ mobilisation to deliver these core objectives.
With this in mind, we urge the international community, EU leaders, European and national leaders, to take strong and immediate action to reinforce a peaceful resolution on Ukraine’s future.The decisions of the EU institutions should support the expectations of civil society and their involvement in fostering the democratic process to make this country a key stakeholder in the future of Europe
For us, there is no legitimate alternative to respecting the spirit and the letter of international legal frameworks. (1). We condemn any invasion by foreign troops into Ukrainian territory.”
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(1) The Helsinki final act (1975) “… The participating States will refrain in their mutual relations, as well as in their international relations in general, from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations and with the present Declaration. No consideration may be invoked to serve to warrant resort to the threat or use of force in contravention of this principle…”
The Budapest memorandum (1994) “… The Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defence or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations…”
