Issue of Ukrainian children’s situation amid Russian war filed for PACE winter session’s agenda

The Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe submitted a motion to hold a debate under the urgent procedure on the situation of children in Ukraine.

The debate is expected to take place on Thursday during one of the meetings of the PACE winter session, which kicked off on Monday, January 22, in Strasbourg. The deputies will approve the final agenda at the opening of the session, reports the correspondent of Ukrinform.

At the opening of the session, the Assembly will elect its president, as well as vote for a new Commissioner for Human Rights. Dunja Mijatovic, Commissioner for Human Rights, whose term of office is expiring, will speak at the Monday meeting.

Among the items on the agenda of the winter session are also debates on the latest developments in the Middle East and accusations of systematic torture in European prisons.

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The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Maria Pejcinovic-Buric, will hold a Q&A with the delegates, and the leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, will take part in the debate on the topic "Democratic Future of Belarus".

Also on the agenda is a debate on globalization in times of crisis and war and the role of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the face of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, with the participation of OECD Secretary General Matthias Kormann.

It should be recalled that in December 2023, PACE hearings were held in Paris regarding the situation of Ukrainian children who are currently staying in the CoE member states, as well as the issue of deportation and forcible removal of children from Ukraine by Russia.

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As reported, in April 2023, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognized the deportation and forcible removal of Ukrainian children to Russian territory as an act of genocide, and called on the ICC to look into the possibility of prosecuting perpetrators for this crime.