Helsinki Commission, Chairman Representative Joe Wilson (SC-02), Ranking Member Representative Steve Cohen (TN-09) and Commissioner Representative Victoria Spartz (IN-05) sent a letter to President Biden, requesting he grants the transfer of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to Ukraine. WASHINGTON-Yesterday, members of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Staff Contact: Alex Tiersky, senior policy advisor Members of the Helsinki Commission will continue to actively support the territorial integrity of countries facing Russian aggression and challenge Moscow’s claims to illegal changes in internationally-agreed borders. The principle of territorial integrity has also been invoked elsewhere in the OSCE region, for instance in Nagorno-Karabakh the interplay between Article IV and the closely related principle of equal rights and self-determination (Article VIII) remains at the heart of tensions in various parts of the OSCE region and will continue to demand attention and engagement from the OSCE and its participating states. Coupled with Russia’s actions elsewhere, including Georgia and Moldova, this challenge presents the single greatest affront to OSCE principles since the Organization’s founding, and will remain at the forefront of the Commission’s engagement.
Russia’s illegal occupation of Crimea, initiated in 2014, and its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have underlined the extent to which this fundamental principle is under attack in the OSCE region.
Respect for territorial integrity - the principle under international law that nation-states should not attempt to promote secessionist movements or to promote border changes in other nation-states, nor impose a border change through the use of force - is a guiding principle among OSCE participating States under Article IV of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975.
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