As delivered by Mininster Counsellor Herborg Alvsåker (Norway).
Vice President,
Thank you Deputy High Commissioner for your comprehensive update.
Norway will continue our support to the Ukrainian reform efforts and we encourage Ukraine to implement ongoing and necessary legal and judicial reforms.
Furthermore, we call on Ukraine to take firm action and implement in earnest the recommendations made in this current report.
Vice President,
We would like to underscore the heavy responsibility of the Russian Federation and the self-proclaimed republics in Donbass. We welcome the extended period with reduced violations of the ceasefire, although the situation remains unstable and fragile. We encourage all parties to refrain from targeting civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals.
Norway reiterates our call on the Russian Federation to grant the High Commissioner full and unhindered access to Crimea. Access to the peninsula for international human rights mechanisms is not just an important matter of principle, but also a necessity to improve the grave human rights situation, which still prevails.
Thank you.