The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a resolution calling on Russia to return the wreckage of the Polish Air Force Tu-154M to Poland. 41 participants were in favor of the resolution and 6 abstained from voting.

Thank you for this report. This is not about Poland, not about Ukraine or Georgia, but about 46 countries. It’s about all of you. Think about your future

• said Dominik Tarczyński during the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, at which the debate on the adoption of a resolution calling on Russia to return the wreckage of Tu-154M aircraft to Poland was held. The Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashed near Smolensk, Russia, on April 2010. After the debate there was a vote on the resolution.

I expect from the debate that the Council of Europe will finally fight for its dignity and show that Russia should return the airplane wreckage. I hope that we will fight not only for the memory of those who perished but for the honor. This vote does not concern only Russia, it does not concern only Poland, but it concerns all the Member States. This is a vote for the honor of the Council of Europe

-said Dominik Tarczyński, Law and Justice (PiS) to PAP before the debate

As he added, if the resolution is adopted, it will be the first international document to call on Russia to return the wreckage.

The draft resolution states inter alia that under Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention, the state of occurrence is required to return the wreckage and other evidentiary material to the State of registration of the aircraft as soon as the technical air safety investigation is completed, which was the case in January 2011 (upon publication of the MAK report - PAP) - the document reads.

The continuing refusal of the Russia authorities to return the wreckage and other evidence constitutes an abuse of rights and has fuelled speculation on the Polish side that Russia has something to hide

• the draft underlines.

According to the document, the resolution will call on the Russian Federation to return the wreckage without further delay in a manner that avoids any further deterioration of potential evidence, and properly secure the wreckage until the return, as well as refrain from carrying out any more activities at the site of the crash that could be seen as desecrating the crash site.

The draft resolution was based on the report prepared by MP Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands,EPP/CD), who based his conclusions on the opinions of two international law experts - Timothy Brymer from the UK and Pablo Mendes de Leon from Spain. After analyzing the factual and legal status, they indicated that under the rules of the Chicago Convention, the wreckage should be returned to Poland.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is one of the two main statutory bodies of the Council of Europe. It is made up of 648 delegates (324 representatives of national parliaments and the same number of deputies); the number of delegates depends on the number of inhabitants of the state. The 47-nation Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, is dedicated to upholding and promotion of human rights, the principles of parliamentary democracy and the rule of law. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe interacts either by recommendations addressed to the Committee of Ministers or through resolutions and opinions.

The wreckage of the Polish Air Force Tu-154M has remained on the Smolensk airfield for over eight years. Russian authorities claim that they cannot hand it over to Poland until the investigation is over. Representatives of the Polish authorities have repeatedly raised the issue of returning the plane in talks with the Russian side.

On 10 April 2010, the Polish Presidential Tu-154M crashed at Smolensk Severny Aerodrome, near Smoleńsk, killing all 96 persons on board, including the Polish President Lech Kaczyński and his wife, the highest commanders of the Polish Army, and the last president of Poland in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski. The Polish State delegation, led by President Lech Kaczyński wanted to attend a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre.

Here is our interview with Dominik Tarczyński

wPolityce.pl: You emphasized, during the debate in the Council of Europe on the resolution calling on Russia to return Tu-154M wreckage to Poland, that it is not about Poland, Ukraine or Georgia, but about 46 countries and the honor of the Council of Europe. Was the discussion vigorous?

Dominik Tarczyński: The discussion was vigorous, but I am very pleased that in the final vote on the resolution, all 46 states unanimously were in favor of accepting this report and a resolution calling on Russia to return the Tu-154M wreckage. Nobody voted against it. And that is very important. It is also symbolic that I did not see anyone from the Civic Platform in the room.

How do you explain that?

It is surprising that Civic Platform didn’t participate in such an important vote. Two things are very important here: the issue of returning the wreckage and the fact that a document, which very clearly states that Russia has something to hide, was adopted. This is an amendment that they wanted to reject, but we managed to keep it. These two issues are fundamental for me.

What will the adoption of the resolution result in?

Due to the fact that Russia is suspended in the rights of a member of the Council of Europe, it can now be expelled from it. We’ll see what their reaction is. It is important that it is the first such document. It is also the next step of an international organization that condemns Russia for its actions.

Tłum. KJ