Statement of the Belarusian National Platform concerning military conflict in the East of Ukraine

Belarusian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum issued a statement in regard of the military conflict in the East of Ukraine.

The statement of the Belarusian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum

About the international community’s actions concerning the military conflict in the East of Ukraine

05 March 2015

To the Secretary General of the United Nations Organisation

To the Secretary General of the Council of Europe

To the Secretary General of the OSCE

To the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

On February, 11-12th,the meeting in the Normandy format aimed at settling the conflict in the east of Ukraine took place in Minsk. The Minsk negotiations have not resulted in the real termination of hostilities yet. During the conflict, there appeared new victims among the military men and peaceful population when pro-Russian separatists captured Debaltseve – it occurred right after the Minsk peace agreement. Despite the declared withdrawal of heavy armaments in the conflict zone, people are still being killed every day.

We, Belarusian civil society organizations united within the framework of the Belarusian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, think that the cause of these events was the infringement of the international treaties and principles, which are fixed, including by the United Nations; today it threatens not only the safety, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the neighboring countries, and European countries, but also undermines the world system of security as a whole.

We are sure that only steps aimed at returning to the legal field can lead to the real solution of the conflict and the termination of Russia’s aggression upon Ukraine. Thereupon, we urge the European Union and the USA to take the following immediate coordinated steps:

1. To recognize at the international level and, first of all, at the UN level, that Russia is the country-aggressor, which is a party of the confrontation in Ukraine; that it conducts the military operations, which break the international treaties, on the territory of Ukraine. For this purpose, we urge the countries to initiate a corresponding procedure at the UN level.

2. To officially recognize that Russia’s occupation of Crimea is the infringement of Russia’s international obligations fixed in the Budapest Memorandum, which demands from the other parties of the Memorandum to start their urgent actions in order to implement their obligations. For this purpose, we call to immediately begin tripartite consultations of the other participants of the Memorandum with the invitation of experts in the field of international laws.

3. To recognize the separatist organizations of the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic as international terrorist organizations. For this purpose, we urge the EU Member States, Great Britain, and the USA to begin corresponding procedures.

5. To urgently consider the appeal of Ukraine to the UN Security Council concerning its request to introduce a peace-making contingent on the territory of the military conflict in the east of Ukraine without Russia’s participation.

Belarusian civil society organizations, members of the Belarusian National Platform for the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (over 60 civil society organizations and initiatives)