26^th SESSION

Strasbourg, 25-27 March 2014

CG(26)15PROV
24 March 2014

The situation in Ukraine

Bureau of the Congress

Rapporteur:      Marc COOLS, Belgium (L, ILDG[1]), Vice-President of the Congress and Rapporteur on Ukraine

DRAFT DECLARATION (for vote[2])

1. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is deeply concerned at developments in the situation in Ukraine, particularly the attacks on the territorial integrity of the country.

2. It shares the concerns expressed on this subject by the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and more generally by the whole international community.

3. It does not accept the validity of the referendum, held on 16 March last, in violation of the Ukrainian constitution and without the minimum democratic guarantees that should be in place for any vote and which are the preconditions required by the Congress when it observes local and regional elections.

4. This pseudo-consultation should on no account pave the way for a change of borders between Russia and Ukraine. The Congress therefore condemns Russia’s annexation of Crimea in violation of international law. This is the first time since the Second World War that such a violation of international law has taken place in Europe.

5. The Congress points out that prior to this referendum Crimea enjoyed a broad degree of autonomy and that this could, if necessary, have been strengthened in consultation with the Ukrainian national authorities.

6. In addition, it lends its support to the new Ukrainian authorities for any initiatives they take to strengthen democracy in their country and to ensure genuine dialogue between all political forces.

7. In particular, this dialogue should enable the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine as well as the non-Russian speaking minorities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, which was illegally annexed by the Russian Federation, to benefit fully from the provisions of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and those of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Lastly, it should lead to constitutional and administrative reforms providing this country with institutions which receive broad consensus and which, with regard to local and regional authorities, comply with the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and those of the Reference Framework on Regional Democracy.

8. The Congress refers to its recommendations adopted at its session held from 29 to 31 October 2013, further to the report on local and regional democracy in Ukraine, and in particular those calling for the:

a. removal of the constitutional and legislative restrictions to which the local authorities are subject and the reinforcement of subsidiarity by granting local authorities competence for a substantial share of public affairs;

b. transfer of the administrative competences of the districts and regions to elected bodies in order to establish an administration under their responsibility.

9. Such reform would strengthen democracy and the social, economic and territorial cohesion of Ukraine.

10. The Congress is ready to discuss with the new authorities the implementation of these recommendations.