The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has recognized the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide of the Ukrainian people.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked PACE for this decision.
"I am grateful to PACE for recognizing the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as genocide of the Ukrainian people. Restoring historical justice and honoring the memory of the Holodomor victims sends a clear message: a fair punishment for all past and present crimes of Moscow is inevitable," Zelensky wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
For his part, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba noted that PACE also called on all Council of Europe member states and other parliaments to recognize the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people.
"I thank PACE for recognizing the Stalinist Holodomor of 1932-1933 as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people. It is also important that PACE called on all Council of Europe countries and other parliaments to follow suit. This is a morally, historically, and politically correct act," Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
According to Yevhenia Kravchuk, MP and deputy head of the Servant of the People faction, PACE adopted a resolution entitled: Ensuring a just peace in Ukraine and lasting security in Europe.
The document was voted in favor by 73 members of the parliament, with one abstention.
The resolution supports key international initiatives of Ukraine: in particular, the Peace Formula, the establishment of a special tribunal for Russia, and the Crimean Platform.
The PACE recognized that the fake "elections" and referendums held by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine "constitute the use of political freedoms for military purposes."
In addition, the PACE condemned Russia's decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative and attempts to further militarize food and trade.
"In this context, the Assembly decided to recognize the Holodomor as an act of genocide aimed at destroying the Ukrainian nation, language and culture," Kravchuk emphasized.
Background. As a reminder, in July, the Italian Senate recognized the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people.