At a meeting of the National Council of Austria, the resolution "Protection and Assistance to Ukrainian Children" was unanimously adopted, which aims to protect the rights of Ukrainian children who were abducted by Russia.
This was reported by Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratyuk.
The official said that she had asked the Speaker of the National Council Walter Rosenkranz to prepare this document during a meeting in Vienna, and had also raised this issue in negotiations with members of the Austrian parliament.
With this resolution, the National Council addresses the Federal Government, in particular the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of Austria, and calls on the Austrian Government to continue its work at the international and European levels to protect and promote the rights of children as enshrined in the relevant UN Convention.
They also call on the government to take measures at the European, international and bilateral levels to return the deported children and bring those responsible to justice.
Olena Kondratyuk thanked Speaker Walter Rosenkrantz and the deputies for their support and clear position on the return of all Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.
- The deportation of Ukrainian children is one of Russiaʼs war crimes, for which the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin and the Russian Childrenʼs Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. At least 19,546 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to Russia, and fewer than 400 have been returned. Ukraine also has evidence that Belarus is involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children.
- At a briefing on March 20, Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine would work to return all Ukrainian deported children. At that time, the president did not have their exact number — different information came at different times. The most difficult situation may be with orphans.
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