site.btaEkaterina Zaharieva Takes Part in Joint Statement by Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees of European Parliaments in Support of Ukraine

Parliamentary foreign affairs committee chair Ekaterina Zaharieva confirmed on Tuesday to BTA that she joined a joint statement by chairpersons of parliamentary foreign affairs committees in EU member states, as well as those of Ireland, Great Britain, and Ukraine. The statement is regarding "the unjustified Russian military build-up in and around Ukraine and in Belarus".

Zaharieva explained that this is an initiative of the Baltic states, in particular of her Lithuanian counterpart, who contacted his colleagues with a proposal for this general statement, which Bulgaria supports, explained Zaharieva.

She noted that the initiative has been around for a while, but it was officially announced on January 30.

Zaharieva pointed out that for quite some time there has been a debate about whether a special tribunal should be established to investigate the war crimes committed by the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine. She noted that Bulgaria welcomes the efforts of the International Criminal Court to investigate these crimes, but also supports this special tribunal.

"As Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees of our respective Parliaments, we advocate the establishment of a dedicated international tribunal," tweeted the chair of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, David McAllister, who also signed the statement and published it on his profile in social media.

The chairs of the foreign policy committees of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, Croatia, the Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden also participated in the document.