Mr. Chair,                              

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.

The Candidate Countries Montenegro* and Albania^*, as well as Ukraine and Georgia align themselves with this statement.

At the outset, I would like to thank Ireland for the transparent and inclusive consultation process titled ‘Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences arising from the use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas’. We also appreciate your continuous efforts to draft and negotiate a political declaration despite challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today’s discussion cannot be timelier. As we speak about the compliance with International Humanitarian Law and its fundamental obligations and principles, an unprovoked war leads to bombing and shelling of innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure. We condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia's unprecedented military aggression against Ukraine. By its unprovoked and unjustified military actions, Russia is grossly violating international law, including International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and undermining European and global security and stability. Ukraine is becoming a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe. Every day, civilians, including women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons, are being attacked, including with explosive weapons such as vacuum bombs, booby-traps and cluster munitions. We deplore the loss of life and the human suffering. Russia bears full responsibility for this act of aggression and all the destruction and loss of life it causes.

The EU demands that Russia ceases its military actions, immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraws all its military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine and fully respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence within its internationally recognised borders. At all times, we call on Russia to comply with its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international refugee law, and in particular to comply with its obligations under IHL as regards the protection of civilians, including women and children. Russia also needs to stop its disinformation campaign and cyber-attacks. Let me highlight, that attacks carried out with new technologies and cyber means must also respect IHL. States must also allow and facilitate humanitarian relief, so it is not acceptable that Russia does not allow the evacuation of civilians. The EU reaffirms the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence in provisions of humanitarian assistance, and reaffirms also the need for all actors engaged in the provision of humanitarian assistance in situations of complex emergencies to promote and fully respect these principles.  

The EU and its Member States express full solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. The EU resolutely supports Ukraine’s inherent right of self-defence and the Ukrainian armed forces’ efforts to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity and population in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter.

The EU expresses its serious concern about the growing number of reported breaches of IHL, including attacks on civilians and civilian objects, in Ukraine and other conflicts, and calls on all parties to all conflicts to respect IHL and the humanitarian principles. We recall that international law, in particular International Humanitarian Law, fully applies to the employment of all weapons and weapons systems and that those who employ these weapons remain responsible and accountable for their use. Ensuring compliance with IHL is crucial, not least for civilians, when armed conflicts are increasingly fought in densely populated areas, exposing civilians and civilian infrastructure to substantial risks. Indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects, including attacks against medical facilities, schools and humanitarian workers, and the arbitrary denial of humanitarian access to people in need are all unacceptable and constitute violations of IHL.

Parties to an armed conflict are obliged to take immediate steps to uphold the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution. This should be done by taking all feasible precautions in the choice of means and methods of attacks with a view to avoiding, and in any event, to minimizing incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects. The parties to the conflict must, to the extent feasible, avoid locating military objectives and to take all feasible precautions to avoid fighting from positions in or near densely populated areas, including near hospitals, schools or universities, or along routes to or from them, take necessary precautions to protect the civilian population, individual civilians and civilian objects against the dangers resulting from military operations, including by allowing civilians to leave besieged or encircled areas.

On the proposed political declaration, we appreciate Ireland’s efforts in the last two years to keep the process alive. The changes to the various drafts still kept the focus on the main aim of this declaration, namely the support for all efforts to strengthen compliance with IHL with the aim to protect the civilian populations and civilian objects from the effects of hostilities.

On our part, the EU will continue to promote compliance with IHL in its own activities as well as in its relations with third parties, as expressed inter alia in the EU Guidelines on Promoting Compliance with IHL. We will continue to speak out against violations of IHL, support enhancing the protection of civilians and civilian objects, in particular those that are vital for civilian populations, and fight against impunity for violations of IHL and human rights abuses.

At the same time, we want to support the idea of a follow-up process to consult on the implementation of the political declaration, which could serve at the same time as a platform for future military to military discussions on matters related to urban warfare and the civilian harm that could arise from it.

Thank you, Mr. Chair

* Montenegro, and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilization and Association Process