Madam President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of Estonia, Lithuania and my own country Latvia.
We reaffirm our strong support to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. This issue must remain high on the international agenda. We will remain vocal on our irreversible non-recognition policy of the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation. We consider it a continuos serious breach of law and order.
We are deeply concerned about human rights violations and abuses in Crimea. They should be thoroughly investigated, and international human rights observers must be granted full, free and unhindered access to the whole territory of Ukraine, including Crimea.
We reiterate that full implementation of the Minsk Agreements remains our unchanged benchmark. We reaffirm our full support to the endeavours in the Normandy format, the OSCE and Trilateral Contact Group aimed at sustainable and peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The UN General Committee by its vote on 19 September has decided to recommend the inclusion of the item “Situation in the occupied territories of Ukraine” into the regular agenda of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania will vote in favour of inclusion of this agenda item, and we call on other Member States to do likewise.
Thank you.