madam president the european union is founded on reconciliation the belief that we can create a better future by acknowledging our past in all its brutality
germany has rightly confronted and sought to atone for the unspeakable horrors of the nazi era and the holocaust
the newer member states of our union are finding their own ways to seek truth and reconciliation through a frank and uncompromising analysis of their communist totalitarian past
but some countries still seek to hide from their history
turkey for example in my view still denies the genocide perpetrated on the armenians and the assyrians under cover of world war i russia has also struggled to come to terms with the brutality of stalin's communist dictatorship
the purpose of this resolution tonight is to express our horror at the holodomor the period of deliberately engineered famine in nineteen thirty-two nineteen thirty-three
the resolution reflects our determination to remember its millions of victims some of whom are still alive today to tell their gruesome tale
their evidence is vitally important because soon they will all have gone
only by reminding ourselves of such heinous crimes against humanity can we try to ensure they never happen again
this resolution does not contain the word genocide because other political groups in this house do not think the strict definition of that term should be applied to the holodomor
after all it was only after the second world war that the genocide convention was actually established
but also perhaps and perhaps more regrettably in my view because of a fear of offending modern-day russia
but none of us wish to belittle the unimaginable suffering inflicted upon ukraine
no word or words can properly describe the atrocity of the holodomor
what is important is not so much the text that we use but the sentiment that we are trying to express in our resolution solidarity with ukraine on the seventy-five anniversary of the massacres perpetrated on its long-suffering people
one lesson that history teaches us is the importance of robust international law and judicial structures which are now extant if the authors of such misery are ever to be punished
nuremberg was the start of that long drawn-out process
the war crimes court for the former yugoslavia which is soon to try radovan <unk> shows that these principles are as important today as ever
yesterday this house voiced its strong support for bringing the leader of the lord's resistance army in uganda joseph kony before the international criminal court
tyrants wherever they are in this case it is joseph stalin we are debating tonight bent on mass murder and destruction should have no sanctuary anywhere
ukraine has borne much grief throughout its history and i do hope now that the next stage in that glorious history involves ukraine rightly taking its place in the not-too-distant future as a full member of the european union
after the crisis in georgia there can be no doubt that many russian nationalists are not happy about for instance ukrainian sovereignty over crimea
but i am sure that if we all stand together in solidarity with the ukrainian people one day it will take its place in the european family of nations
