Madam Chair,

We fully subscribe to the EU statement and would like to add the following in our national capacity.

The first TV broadcasts from morning of February 24 a year ago - showing the Russian tanks rolling into Ukraine - brought back to the older generation of Czechs their sad memories of the morning of August 21, 1968. The historical parallel was clear: a country wishing to pursue a free and democratic future being under armed attack from a superpower denying the sovereignty to its victim. The international law has a clear terminology for such action: a crime of aggression – this time committed by Russia against Ukraine. And it actually started already in 2014, with the annexation of Crimea. Unfortunately, to this "crime of all crimes", the Russian armed forces soon added other crimes under international law: war crimes, crimes against humanity and potentially genocide.

With our historical experience, there has been a consensus in the Czech Republic to stand with Ukraine from day one in every possible way. During the first couple of months, we received over 400,000 Ukrainian refugees, which made approximately 4 percent of our population. At the same time, in order to support Ukraine's right to self-defense, we provided to its armed forces needed military equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and helicopters. Furthermore, we backed Ukraine diplomatically in relevant international fora, starting here in the Council of Europe, by Russia's expulsion from this rule of law organization. Finally, we gave support, in terms of personnel and financing, to the International Criminal Court investigating the crimes committed in Ukraine.

Ukraine's fight for its independence and territorial integrity is not over yet and similarly unfinished are the efforts to draw necessary consequences from Russia's flagrant violations of international law. We must make sure that crime of aggression committed by the Russian political and military leadership does not go unpunished. We are convinced that the international community will find the right solution and that the Core Group, whose first meeting took place in Prague in January, will contribute to this end. We need to address as well the responsibility of the Russian State for all damage that was inflicted on Ukraine and its people. In this respect, the Council of Europe could play an important role and we believe that the upcoming 4th Summit will meet the expectations of Ukraine and the international community.