PACE condemns Russia's abuse of veto right in UNSC

26.01.2023 21:00

Ukrinform

The inability of the UN Security Council to confront Russian aggression against Ukraine through veto abuse is an existential threat to the international legal order.

This is stated in PACE Resolution "Legal and human rights aspects of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine," adopted on Thursday by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Ukrinform's own correspondent reports.

"The Assembly considers the inability of the United Nations and its Security Council to counter the Russian aggression due to an abuse of the right to veto to be an existential threat to international rule-based order and the democratic security of Council of Europe member States," the resolution states.

In this regard, the Assembly declared its support for "all efforts and discussions on unblocking the situation at the United Nations and making the United Nations more efficient, including a call to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on potential limitations of the right of veto implicit in the Charter and general principles of law."

The appropriate reaction of the PACE to the situation of Russia's abuse of the veto right in the UN Security Council became possible thanks to the amendment submitted by the Ukrainian lawmakers, which was unanimously supported by PACE members.

In its resolution, the PACE also suggested that the members of the UN Security Council "consider putting to a vote and not obstructing a Security Council resolution seeking referral of the situation in Ukraine to the ICC Prosecutor under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations."

Separately, the members of the Assembly called on the General Assembly of the United Nations to support and endorse the setting up of a special international criminal tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and of an international compensation mechanism for the injury, damage and loss incurred by the State of Ukraine as well as by natural and legal persons in Ukraine, due to the Russian war of aggression.

As reported, on December 26, Ukraine initiated a complex process aimed at depriving Russia of its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and excluding it from the UN as a whole.

Russia, which illegally occupies a seat in the UN Security Council, systematically blocks the adoption of important decisions – 31 times since 1991, the Russian Federation has used a veto in the UN Security Council.