Quoting Havel, Lipavský calls on world leaders to act against the Russian threat

New York/Prague, Sept 22 (ČTK) - The United Nations (UN) organization and its principles are threatened by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, a permanent member of the UN's Security Council said at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York last night.

Quoting Czech post-communist president and dissident Václav Havel (1936-2011), Lipavský called on world leaders to not be indifferent in their approach to the Russian threat.

"The Czech government’s foreign policy is guided by the legacy of our former President Václav Havel. A globally respected human rights defender and a renowned politician, who once said 'Our indifference towards others can after all result in only one thing: the indifference of others towards us'."

The Czech foreign minister went on to say that "Russia tries to dismantle the security architecture of the European continent, launching a colonial war of conquest."

Lipavský also pointed to the irony of the fact that the Russian president declared partial mobilization and threatened the world with the use of nuclear weapons on the International Day of Peace on September 21.

The Czech diplomacy head called the Russian invasion "unjustifiable, unprovoked and illegal." It not only violates the UN Charter, but also seriously harms the global economy, food safety, and the international order, he said.

"Czechia fully supports sovereignty, unity, and independence of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders," Lipavský reiterated, adding that Prague will never recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea.

Lipavský also condemned in advance the upcoming "sham referenda" in the Ukrainian territories occupied or controlled by Russia.

He denounced the atrocities committed by the Russian invaders in Ukraine and criticized "the apocalyptic shelling of civilian infrastructure," reminding the audience of the existence of filtration camps and the deportations of Ukrainian inhabitants, including children.

"There is Russia's international responsibility for the aggression, but there is also an individual criminal responsibility – for the crimes committed on such a large scale by Russian troops," Lipavský  said.

Prague supports the investigation into Putin's war-time human-rights violations by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Ukraine's application for instituting the proceedings against the Russian Federation under the Genocide Convention, he added.

He also called for establishment of a special international tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression committed by Putin's Russia.

Lipavský is the first representative of the Czech Republic to address the UN Security Council in almost 30 years.

Read Lipavský's full address to the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly here.