“With great concern we observe the critical situation in Ukraine, where an act of aggression has been committed against a European country by the military forces of the Russian Federation. Today, the international community is confronted by the most serious challenge to global security since the end of the Cold War”; so declares the Statement adopted by the speakers of the parliaments of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania regarding the situation in Ukraine.

In the Statement, the Baltic speakers emphasise that the decision of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia to permit the use of Russian armed forces in the territory of Ukraine violates international law and sets a dangerous precedent. “The actions of the Russian Federation violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and constitute a serious threat to peaceful and democratic development of the region, as well as to global security and stability. The decision to hold an illegitimate referendum in Crimea on accession to the Russian Federation violates the Ukrainian constitution and, as such, is unacceptable,” state the speakers of Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian parliaments.

The Statement emphasises that the EU member states, as well as the international community, have to join their efforts in order to restore international peace and security and to provide all possible political and economic support to Ukraine on its path to the EU. Concurrently, with this Statement, the speakers of the Baltic parliaments condemn the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and the occupation of Crimea, demand the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia to cancel its decision that violates international law, and express full support and solidarity with Ukraine’s parliament and the Ukrainian people.

Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia; Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuanian; and Ene Ergma, President of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia, adopted the Statement on Friday, 14 March, in Rome, where they took part in an international conference What Europe Stands For – Growth, Jobs and Rights: Will the European Union Rise to the Occasion?





Saeima Press Service