“Today’s statements concerning the ban of the Communist Party in Ukraine to participate in future elections are of deep concern to me”, said Mr. Kox. He stated that by making this move Ukraine is sliding down, away from a democratic constitutional state which it intended to establish.
Tomorrow, the Venice Commission will hold an exchange of views during its plenary session with two members of the Ukrainian Parliament with the view to adopt the draft joint opinion by the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR on the Law of Ukraine on the condemnation of the communist and Nazi totalitarian regimes. On the request of PACE the Venice Commission has examined these contested ‘decommunization laws’ which were previously adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament and ratified by the President of Ukraine. “We hope that the opinion of the Venice Commission will soon shed light into the lawfulness of these ‘decommunization laws’”, said Mr. Kox . In the meanwhile, Amnesty International has already reacted that the decision to ban the Communist Party of Ukraine is a decisive blow for freedom of speech in the country.