December 4, 2014 - Basel, Switzerland
Check Against Delivery
Since we met a year ago in Kyiv, Europe’s security has been fundamentally compromised.
Unfortunately, the Russian Federation continues to deny facts and blame others for a crisis it has entirely created and manipulated.
We have seen a huge misinformation campaign, a campaign aimed at obscuring the truth of the situation in Ukraine with smoke and mirrors.
When we met in New York at UNGA [the UN General Assembly], you will recall that our Russian counterpart said to us “I hope no one blames Russia for what has happened” in Ukraine. That’s the quote.
We must hold Russia to account for its actions.
Today, I would like to remember the innocent victims of MH17 and their families.
Today, I would like to denounce the growing violence and discrimination against the Crimean Tatars.
Today, I would like to stand in solidarity with the people of eastern Ukraine.
As our Ukrainian colleague has noted, the fallout from Russia’s actions is a huge challenge for the OSCE, and it must meet this challenge effectively.
Today, we should focus on how to ensure compliance with existing commitments.
After all, this pattern of behaviour has not just been imposed on Ukraine.
We have seen this pattern before, in Georgia and in Moldova.
In this context, Canada welcomes the peaceful and well-organized parliamentary elections last Sunday, and we will continue to stand with the people of Moldova.
Russia’s actions in Ukraine have deepened fault lines within the OSCE over the implementation of our agreed-upon commitments.
The OSCE can operate as a consensus-driven organization.
But we must ensure that we drive that consensus toward full respect for freedom, democracy, human rights—including equality between men and women, freedom of religion, freedom of expression and the rights of sexual minorities—and the rule of law in every one of our countries.
The Russian people are a great people. They have, and deserve, a prominent place in today’s international order.
The aggression in Ukraine and the bad faith shown in talking about it are not worthy of the Russian people.
In conclusion, I would like to thank you, Mr. President, and Switzerland for your strong presidency.
Thank you.
