EU Will Never Recognize Occupied Ukrainian Territories As Russian

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) EU Ambassador to the United Nations Stavros Lambrinidis said this during a General Assembly debate on the situation in Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

“Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia are Ukraine. The European Union will never recognize as lawful any attempt by Russia to annex Ukrainian territory. We do not recognize the forced Russification of people and their communities, nor the results of any illegal so-called elections organized by the Russian occupation administration in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, Lambrinidis said.

He said Russia's occupation was aimed not only at controlling territory but also at destroying the daily lives, rights and identity of Ukrainians living under Russian rule. Despite being denied access, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine have documented Russia's actions in the occupied territories, he added.

“Russia's goal is clear: it seeks to alter the demographic composition of the territories it occupies, including through the forced transfer and deportation of civilians, including children. This is illegal. It is shameless. And it is disgraceful,” Lambrinidis said.

He reaffirmed that the EU would continue providing political, financial, economic, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine as it exercises its inherent right to self-defense, while addressing humanitarian needs and supporting diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Russia must end its“illegal war of aggression and occupation” of Ukraine, accept an immediate, unconditional and comprehensive ceasefire, and engage in negotiations aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace in accordance with international law and the UN Charter, Lambrinidis said.

He also called on Russia and Belarus to end the deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children, which the UN Commission of Inquiry has found to constitute war crimes. He urged an end to the illegal adoption of Ukrainian children and called for the immediate, safe and unconditional return of all children unlawfully deported or forcibly transferred from Ukraine.

Read also: Around 6,000 Ukrainian Civilians May Be in Temporarily Occupied Kherson Region – Lubinets

Lambrinidis further called for the release of political prisoners and civilians arbitrarily detained by Russia and for stronger international monitoring of human rights and humanitarian conditions in the occupied territories. He urged Russia to provide UN human rights mechanisms with immediate and unhindered access, including to places of detention.

Lambrinidis delivered the statement on behalf of the EU and its member states. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Liechtenstein, Andorra and Monaco also joined the statement.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, the UN General Assembly is debating the situation in Ukraine's territories temporarily occupied by Russia. The issue has been on the Assembly's agenda since 2019 and covers the political, security, humanitarian and human rights consequences of Russia's occupation.

Photo via Pixabay

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