European Solidarity called on the Cabinet of Ministers to repeal the decree blocking the travel of MPs and officials abroad.

The Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal ruled illegal the Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution “On Amending the Rules for Crossing the State Border by Citizens of Ukraine ,” which effectively created a system of manual control over the exit of deputies and officials.

This decision was made in response to a lawsuit filed by Petro Poroshenko, whose international visits have been repeatedly blocked, against the Cabinet of Ministers. But, most importantly, it is a decision against a system that allows the authorities to abuse the ban mechanism against all MPs and all levels of councils, European Solidarity notes. The MPs are convinced that the government must now immediately repeal this illegal decree.

“As we know, the Cabinet of Ministers, at Zelenskyy’s behest, almost three years ago issued an illegal decree banning local government deputies who do not receive a state salary from crossing the border on business trips, as they would have to request permission and other paperwork to do so. A decision was also made to be selective regarding the international activities of Ukrainian MPs and our leader, Petro Poroshenko,” noted faction co-chair Iryna Herashchenko.

“Let me remind you that Petro Poroshenko’s official participation in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly was blocked. Given the court’s decision, we call on the government to immediately rescind this illegal ruling and refrain from taking actions that provoke harsh criticism from our European partners and that block interparliamentary activities of deputies, where we should be united. We demand that the authorities immediately implement this decision,” Gerashchenko emphasized.

During the court hearing, a Cabinet of Ministers representative attempted to explain that without such a ban, the Verkhovna Rada could have “dispersed” during the war. However, the overwhelming majority of MPs who did travel abroad returned to Ukraine and continue to work, the court noted. After two years of hearings, the court ruled the travel ban illegal, according to Poroshenko’s lawyer, Ihor Golovan: “It invalidated and illegalized this arbitrary government decision that imposed the so-called ‘travel ban.’ In other words, these restrictions are illegal. Now, a ruling has been announced that this government decision is illegal. In other words, this government decision is illegal.”

“The court essentially reminded the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine that Ukraine is a parliamentary-presidential republic, that the Cabinet of Ministers itself is appointed by the Parliament of Ukraine and must be accountable to Parliament. However, in this ruling, the Cabinet of Ministers exceeded its authority by effectively creating instruments of pressure on members of parliament. This contradicts the fundamental principles of democracy. We hope for a swift response from border guards to this court ruling, as it clearly has superior authority than a decree, and for the government to overturn it, as this is a matter of the rule of law,” MP Viktoria Syumar emphasized at a briefing in the Verkhovna Rada.

“First of all, I want to congratulate everyone on the fact that Ukraine has courts that uphold the law. And despite all the challenges we face today regarding the rule of law, we see that there are judges who, while carefully studying case documents and the law, act within the rule of law. Therefore, this is very important,” said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Chairman of the Committee on Ukraine’s Integration with the EU.

“I hope the government understands its responsibility, and that this is an additional test of their commitment to European integration, to see how they will now comply with the law and implement the court’s decision to lift the ban on members of both the Verkhovna Rada and local councils at the Cabinet of Ministers level. I believe this litmus test—the reversal of this shameful, unconstitutional decision—will be studied by our partners and will certainly be reflected in subsequent statements by politicians and in subsequent resolutions of the European Parliament, unless this decision is overturned in accordance with the court’s ruling,” Klympush-Tsintsadze believes.