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STATEMENT BY H.E. MR.OLEKSANDR ALEKSANDROVYCH,HEAD OF THE DELEGATION OF UKRAINE AT THE 35th MEETING

OF THE BSEC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

(13 December 2016, Belgrade)

Dear Mr. Chairman,

Distinguished Heads of Delegations,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my honor to address you at the 35th Council of Ministers summing up the BSEC cooperation under the Serbian Chairmanship.

I would like to congratulateHis Excellency Mr. Ivica DACIC for the great job done by his team throughoutthe Serbian Chairmanship and for the excellent organization of the present meeting.

We acknowledge our common efforts to boost BSEC cooperation in energy, transport, tourism, information and communication technologies, institutional renewal and good governance, education and culture.

Ukraine contributed to these efforts by addressing the issues of trade and transport facilitation at several international fora, which were held in Ukraine in September-October 2016 on the topic of integrated transport corridors “Europe – Asia”.These events represented a useful platform forour decision-makers and representatives of other international organizations to discuss transport policies and infrastructure strategies, trends in container transportationthrough the Black Sea Region.

It is important that support was extended to the new transport initiatives on the development of alternative long distance transport itineraries including the extended indicative TEN-T network, TRACECA, or the Silk Road.

We are pleased to note that the intention of Turkey and Ukraine to start a pilot project on introduction of paperless digital TIR system was widely welcomed.

Dearcolleagues,

Today`s meeting is quite important in the light of the upcoming BSEC Summit dedicated to the 25th Anniversary of the Organization.We agree that the key purpose of this Summit should be the renewal by the Member States of their political commitment to fostering regional cooperation. We support the proposed title “25 Years of Cooperation: Working Together Towards Peace, Stability and Prosperity in the Black Sea Region”, as it reflects accurately the very essence of the founding principles ofour Organization, enshrined in the Bosphorus Declaration of 1992 and in the BSEC Charter adopted in the Ukrainian City of Yalta in1998.

Ukraine has always considered BSEC as the Organization that would turn the Black Searegion into the areaof peace, stability and prosperity through constructive and fruitful collaboration in wide-ranging fields of economic activity.

However, how can BSEC foster economic cooperation when one of its member statesflagrantly violates theprovisions of the BSEC Charter by breaking universal principles and rules of international law, disregardinghuman rights and fundamental freedoms, threateningsecurity and stability of its neighbors?

I have attended several BSEC ministerial meetings before. And I hear constantly that this Organization is inefficient and stagnant. And when you ask your partners around the table why our Organization is inefficient and stagnant, they usually answer: because there are so many unresolved conflicts in the area. And when you look into the origins and protagonists of all these conflicts and ask further who is the common destructive agent behind all these conflicts, the obvious answer is - Moscow. Wherever you look across the years and across the area - Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, Nagorny Karabakh, and now also Crimea and part of Eastern Ukraine, it is the same pattern, the same force which is the main violator of all possible rules and the main hindrance to the successful development of our region. And whenever we try to appease the aggressor hoping that he will finally stop at some point, he is taking more and more.

Under the circumstances, how can we go forward with the Black Sea Ring Highway and the Motorways of the Sea when it is supposed to run through all these unrecognized enclaves and occupied territories?

Or with cruise tourism projects involving occupied Crimea?

Or even any meaningful joint energy projects when Russia is stealing Ukrainian oil and gas reserves and has turned Crimea into the highly militarized zone, allegedly now also with nuclear weapons?

How can we speak of the region of prosperity when the Ukrainians and Crimean Tartars are being persecuted, tortured, thrown into prison, killed or deported from Crimea on a daily basis?

How can we ship our cargo through Donbas without stumbling at about 8000 members of the Russian regular armed forces, 30000 Russian mercenaries, 600 Russian tanks, 1000 artillery systems, 1500 armored vehicles, 400 rocket launching systems?

How can we accept voluntary contributions from member states when the deal is done behind our backs and nobody knows what projects and on what territories they will be implemented? Ukraine is against the Russian proposal regarding the Black Sea Project Promotion Facility, since the Charter and Financial rules were clearly violated.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our Organization may be of economic nature, but it is based on fundamental democratic values of international law and human rights. The moment we are tempted to trade these values for economic benefits, the entire edifice of this Organization will crumble. I invite all of us to use time before the BSEC Summit next year to reflect upon those issues so that we meet current challenges with efficient decisions that will turn BSEC into a vibrant and successful initiative.

Thank you for your attention.

Mr. Chairman, I ask you kindly that my statement be included into the records of this meeting.