Address of Sergey Naryshkin, Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, at the 23-rd Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Baku, June 28, 2014

Dear members of the Parliamentary Assembly!

Mr. Chairman!

I appreciate the opportunity to speak before such a distinguished audience. And 1 sincerely thank our Azerbaijani colleagues for their traditionally warm hospitality and organization of the meeting.

This meeting is important and timely as never before. Dramatic events in Ukraine have become not only an ordeal for the entire Ukrainian people, but also a test for all international institutions established following the Second World War. I suppose that under these circumstances the OSCE will reaffirm its overarching mission and will take an effective action in the name of security and equitable cooperation on the continent.

I am deeply convinced that only an open and honest dialogue will ensure civil peace in Ukraine and promote ideals of the OSCE and the Helsinki accords reached forty years ago.

Let me remind you that among the 10 principles of the Helsinki Final Act - in addition to the item on the inviolability of frontiers - there are other, and no less important items, including the one regarding the priority of peaceful settlement of any disputes and the one regarding the right of peoples to decide their own destiny, which is expressly enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

Fatally wrong are those who are now trying to "pull out" of the Helsinki Final Act certain individual provisions, which are "convenient" for them, while completely forgetting about the other.

I would like state expressly and from the outset that I consider as deliberately unconstructive to throw in the agenda of such an important session certain resolutions, which would lead to confrontation both in the Assembly, and in Europe in general. One can only undermine the peace process in Ukraine, which is still very fragile by trying yet once again (and without any justification!) to put the blame on Russia for all calamities.

I cannot rule out the possibility that it is the extremely irresponsible PACE decision in April, depriving Russia of its voting rights that prompted some folks in Kiev to unleash a punitive military operation.

I wonder, whether members of PACE are aware of the fact, that they assumed part of the responsibility for what subsequently happened in eastern regions of Ukraine?

Two days ago, the Third International Parliamentary Forum took place in Moscow. It was attended by representatives of 71 countries, of which 28 - were European countries. This is the best reply to Mr. Obama, who exactly a month ago pronounced, that "Our ability to shape world opinion helped isolate Russia right away."

Meanwhile, hopelessness, and most importantly - futility of such attempts - is quite obvious. It is impossible to resolve the crisis without participation of Russia. The act of withdrawal of the authorization to use the Russian Armed Forces on the territory of Ukraine has once more reiterated the readiness of our country to promote the peace process.

Today all of us need to consolidate our efforts to help the President Poroshenko and the people of Ukraine to restore peace, law and order.

Nevertheless, the situation there is extremely difficult. And I urge members of this Assembly to evaluate this situation only on the basis of facts. What do I mean by that?

First and foremost, the democratically elected President of Ukraine was ousted from power in a manner which is not stipulated in the country's Constitution. Moreover, the agreement of February 21 between him and the opposition, which was countersigned (and thus guaranteed!) by foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland was "tread to pieces" on the very next day.

Secondly, after the cynical deception of those who marched to the Kiev "maidan" with democratic slogans and not with optic sights mounted on their weapons; after burning to death of dozens of people in Odessa and leaving their murderers unpunished - this country witnessed the rise of a popular protest. Thus, millions of people in Ukraine were forced to resort to such commonly recognized legal method, as a referendum.

However, in response to the people's desire to peacefully and lawfully express their will and obtain a legal result, these people were subjected to new arrests and shells falling on their heads. And all this has been done under the slogan of the so-called "Ukrainian unity!"

Please, give me similar examples in the modern Europe [in view of the fact that opinion polls and referenda there are not uncommon]. As far as I know, people there are not forced to unity at gunpoint. Or maybe inhabitants of the Italian Veneto, the Scots and the Catalans should also expect artillery shelling? If this is not the case, then what is the reason for the Ukrainian people to deserve such treatment?

Not to mention the fact that there are many federal states in the world and in Europe, the inhabitants of which are not labeled as separatists and terrorists.

Thirdly. It looks like a veil fell to the eyes of those who failed to notice the hypocrisy of Kiev authorities in their actions against hundreds of journalists - and not only the Russian ones. We are talking about illegal detentions, degrading treatment, and even torture. I would like to put on record here the fact of systematic violations of at least two articles of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and fatalities among journalists. Last week, two more journalists were killed by aimed fire near the city of Slaviansk.

Next point. Against the background of the humanitarian disaster, huge numbers of refugees fleeing to the territory of my country from violence and killings, Russian parliamentarians are still included in so- called "blacklists". And this is being done just due to the fact that we (unlike others) do not pretend to be blind; and that after the unprecedented outcome of the Crimean referendum we heeded to the voice of a half million Crimeans. It turned out that by our actions we saved them from physical intimidation, as it was subsequently demonstrated by bloody events in the south-east of Ukraine and in Odessa.

Finally, I would like to talk about the most alarming and dangerous developments, that is - about frightful signs of resurgent Nazism, which are difficult to confuse with anything else.

The ultra-nationalist "Right Sector", the nationalist "Freedom" party represented at the "Verkhovnaya Rada", and similar forces started with "Molotov cocktails" on Kiev "maidan", pogroms and seizures of government agencies - and then went to even greater extremes. Moreover, the image of Stepan Bandera - the known Hitler's accomplice - quite obviously looms behind them.

I have a question - what is the attitude in your countries towards activities of pro-fascist groups? Are their leaders given any official tribune? Do you welcome any appointments of such leaders to various government positions?

Let me ask you, dear colleagues: do these signs and events remind you of anything? Indeed, something similar was already happening almost eight decades ago - just before the Second World War, which claimed tens of millions of lives ...

Dear ladies and gentlemen!

We consider that everything that has happened in Ukraine is more than enough to "call a spade a spade" and to condemn crimes committed against its people. Such atrocities, primarily - killings of civilians, have no statute of limitations. There is no doubt whatsoever that one day the trial of war criminals will be broadcasted live worldwide.

In this conference hall there are no innocent souls, and our parliamentary duty and political honor commit us to tell the truth, only the truth and nothing but the truth. Never in history, had the plague of Nazism remained "patchy", or local "disease". The "brown plague" of fascism decimated anyone hiding the truth from citizens, hoping that this "epidemic" will pass them by.

There remains a great concern over the future of Ukraine and Europe. We cannot allow the breakdown of negotiations and resumption of hostilities. It is necessary to extend the truce and finally make it tangible. That is why we propose to establish the International Contact Group on the Situation in Ukraine on the platform of our Assembly. Moreover, we propose to discuss ways and means to resolve this crisis within the framework of a broad-based international conference.

This will allow attaching an effective parliamentary dimension to the process of recovering Ukraine from the constitutional and humanitarian crisis. At the same time this will allow to strengthen somewhat muffled voice of our Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in recent years, as well as its role in the global political architecture of the 21st century.

I am convinced that only standing together we will be able to restore confidence in the European area and to protect Ukrainians from new spirals of violence.

And last but not least. The question is, whether reasons for the Ukraine's current dramatic situation lie only inside this country? I think the answer is already known to you. Nevertheless, will those who nourished "maidan" protesters from abroad incur any responsibility for the humanitarian disaster and spilled blood? Even in view of the fact that initially those protests were peaceful.

Distinguished members of the Assembly!

Experts talk "loud and clear" about a crisis of the international law architecture and its global security institutions. However, let's get it straight - who is destroying them? Perhaps those who consider them only a nuisance and unnecessary formalities in toppling unwanted governments and creating chaos, which helps to lay hands on assets and mineral deposits of other countries? Or perhaps those who conduct universal eavesdropping of conversations and correspondence of hundreds of millions of citizens in different countries - even including leaders of the allies by their military-political bloc?

The whole chain of events in Ukraine may also serve as chronicles of the most flagrant violations, including violations of the international law. We have clearly seen that the anti-constitutional coup was justified from outside of the country, and was portrayed as the democratic process. Mass unrest, beatings, and later murders of police officers were portrayed as peaceful demonstrations. Burning people to death was portrayed as something close to their suicide. Using army against its own people was portrayed as an anti-terrorist operation. And censorship in the media, arrests and deaths of journalists did not

trigger any response at all, because it is difficult to find any plausible definition to these events.

Let's not forget about the ugly mob attack on the Russian Embassy in Kiev. This attack never received any adequate (and necessary in such cases!) international response, even though such attack constitutes a gross violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961.

Moreover, the so-called "North Atlantic solidarity" is increasingly becoming a "one-way street." Such situation not only reduces the political prestige of Europe, but also diminishes its role as the historical center of the global development. Is some country's favor and grants worth continuing to "give in" national sovereignty; and ruining our home - our common Europe - with our own hands, which all of us as Europeans would like to see without dividing lines?

Dear ladies and gentlemen!

The world has been multi-polar from the very start. And it is high time to understand that it is not a figure of speech, but a reality. In the 21st century the development follows different laws based on the multi-vector logic. The sooner this is understood on all continents - the lower will be the risk of new coups and civil wars, which plunge into chaos entire regions of the planet.

Our common agenda encompasses a lot of creative and extremely urgent tasks, ranging from the fight against terrorism and human trafficking to the issues of food security and the development of cultural space, which contributes to a better understanding among peoples.

Thank you for your attention.