Response to interpellation 2024/25:533 on three detained Ukrainian OSCE employees
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the three imprisoned Ukrainian OSCE employees and how Sweden can increase the pressure on Russia for their release. M argues that the government is working to promote international law and has expressed deep concern in the OSCE's permanent council 1. M emphasizes that Russia bears full responsibility and that Sweden continues to support the OSCE's leadership as well as uses EU sanctions to hold Russia accountable 2 3. S considers that the measures taken so far have not led to change and demands further concrete measures, such as the use of international legal instances 4 5. S also wants to strengthen the protection for international election observers.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Carina Ödebrink has asked me what measures I and the government have taken within OSCE and other international forums to advocate for the release of Vadym Holda, Maksym Petrov, and Dmytro Sjabanov, and how Sweden intends to continue to put pressure on Russia to ensure that international law is respected and the detained OSCE employees are released. Carina Ödebrink has also inquired how Sweden is working to strengthen the protection for international observers and thereby prevent similar situations from recurring in the future.
The seriousness of this issue should, of course, not be underestimated. It is when principles, laws and rules are put to the test that our commitment is tested. The Government always works to promote international law, including human rights, and the principles of the rule of law.
I have taken note of the reports from the organization ULAG, Ukraine's legal advisory group, that the OSCE staff member Dmytro Sjabanov would have been moved to an unknown location and that Maksym Petrov risks deportation to a high-risk prison in Russia. If this is true, it is very serious and raises further concern for their safety and health.
As a participating state in the OSCE, Sweden has individually, but also as part of the EU, regularly expressed deep concern in the Permanent Council over the deprivation of liberty of the three OSCE staff members and demanded their release. Sweden has also supported the efforts of the presidencies of Poland, Malta, and Finland to demand an immediate and unconditional release.
In my role as Minister for Foreign Affairs, I personally raised the issue at the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Malta in December 2024 in order to be able to direct the demand directly to Russia. At the meeting, I demanded that Russia respect international law and comply with all OSCE commitments and principles. I also demanded an immediate release of the detained employees from the OSCE.
Sweden will continue to stand up for the rules-based world order, international law including human rights and the principles of the rule of law – within the OSCE and in all other contexts.
Carina Ödebrink (S)
Madam Speaker! This year marks 50 years since the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, which we today call the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, adopted the so-called Helsinki Accords or the Helsinki Declaration. OSCE is an association of states that may be ideologically and politically far apart but who see the necessity of a platform for meetings and dialogue and have a belief that the European states can resolve their differences through diplomatic means without war.
Russia's full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine violates the Helsinki Declaration and is an assault on the European security order and the rules-based world order. After Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine was established at the request of the Ukrainian government through a consensus decision by the OSCE's 57 participating countries. This has been by far the largest delegation in the OSCE. The mission ceased after Russia's full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine in March 2022, when Russia blocked an extension of the mandate.
The monitoring mission was an unarmed civilian operation that operated on the ground 24/7 in Ukraine. The main mission was to impartially and objectively observe and report on the security situation in the country and to facilitate dialogue between the parties.
In April 2022, three personnel in the then-concluded mission were deprived of their liberty: Holda, Petrov, and Sjabanov. They are being held captive in Donetsk and Luhansk. Petrov and Sjabanov were sentenced in September of the same year to 13 years in prison, and in July 2024, Holda was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
In January this year, I visited Ukraine with the special support team established within the framework of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. We were the first international organization on the ground. We were given the opportunity to meet relatives of the three imprisoned individuals. They testified to a very difficult situation where they receive meager and irregular information about and contact with their relatives. It naturally creates great anxiety and frustration for them not to know if their men are doing well and if and when they can be expected to be released.
Since the imprisonment of the three employees, the OSCE's acting chairman and secretary general have repeated the calls to the OSCE's participating states to support the efforts and ensure an immediate release of the three OSCE employees.
I would therefore like to ask the Minister, in addition to what I have received in the answer: What does the Minister consider the government can do further regarding the three employees, beyond what has been reported? This could involve diplomatic pressure, engagement with civil society, or the possibility of using additional international legal bodies to increase the pressure on Russia and seek justice for those affected.
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Since taking office, the Government has continued to support the efforts initiated after the deprivation of liberty to have the three OSCE staff members released. Since Russia bears full responsibility for the deprivation of liberty, the issue is best handled through the channels that OSCE has in contacts with Russian authorities and counterparts. Regarding Carina Ödebrinks' question: In practice, this means continuous support to the OSCE's chairmanship, secretary-general, and other leading representatives to maintain the pressure on Russia even in this issue.
It is also about conveying through the EU the Union's clear expectation of having the three employees released. At certain times where it has been judged to have added value, Sweden has also chosen to raise the issue in our national statements in OSCE, such as when I participated in the ministerial council meeting in Malta in December.
Unfortunately, Russia shows no signs of wanting to comply with its commitments in this matter either. I naturally want to avoid speculating on the underlying motives. But it is deeply worrying that we have now received information that at least one of the employees has been moved to a remote penal colony in Russia. This suggests that we are not closer to a release. Sweden will continue to contribute to maintaining the pressure on Russia in this matter until all three have been released. I can guarantee that, Carina Ödebrink.
Carina Ödebrink (S)
Madam Speaker! Just as the Minister says, the initiatives that have been taken so far have not led to any change. The illegal imprisonment of the three employees is now entering its fourth year.
OSSE:s parlamentariska församling antog i sin deklaration förra året i Bukarest paragrafer där vi upprepar vår uppmaning till Ryska federationen att omedelbart och villkorslöst frige de tre olagligt fängslade. Vi uppmanar också Ryska federationen att villkorslöst frige alla individer som orättvist fängslats på Krim, inklusive de tre tjänstemännen.
OSSE: The parliamentary assembly's decisions are not binding, but serve as important means of pressure on their respective governments. It is the governments that have the tools, the power, and the mandate to exert pressure on Russia on the issue.
OSCE's newly elected Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu from Turkey visited Moscow in March and again raised the issue of the three OSCE employees. As employees, Holda, Petrov, and Sjabanov should never have been subjected to arrest, harassment, or internment while carrying out their missions.
According to the memorandum of understanding between OSCE and the government of Ukraine regarding OSCE's special monitoring mission, OSCE officials shall be granted immunity for their official acts performed in Ukraine, an immunity that also applies after their mission has ended.
The Russian Federation claims that immunity no longer applies when the mandate was not extended and that Vadym Holda was convicted of espionage alleged to have occurred in December 2021, but this is long before the mission ceased. Furthermore, Russia claims that all three were involved in criminal acts during their time in the OSCE mission. However, no demands have ever been put forward from the Russian side that immunity should be revoked, nor have any criminal acts been communicated that would form the basis for the imprisonment.
I would like to ask the Minister one further question. Does the Minister consider Sweden's efforts to support OSCE's and other countries' efforts to be sufficient when three employees are being arbitrarily detained?
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the question!
I have explained quite extensively how we are trying to push to get them released. But we must not forget that it is Russia we are dealing with. I do not think we should have any great hopes for that country. It is simply regrettable.
However, we must never give up our efforts. We must achieve a demand for accountability against Russia. Therefore, I intended to speak a little more about what the government is doing in that area, because it is so important.
It is of the utmost importance that Russia is held accountable for its systematic violations of international law. Since the beginning of the Russian aggression, the Government has actively worked for effective accountability in all relevant forums. This concerns, among others, the UN, EU and OSCE.
The purpose has been to restore respect for international law and for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Through our active engagement in the design and adoption of sanction packages within the EU, the government ensures that these serious violations of international law do not remain without consequences.
Sanctions are a central tool to signal that violations of international law and fundamental principles of peace and security and the rule of law are not tolerated.
Systematic violations of the rules-based world order have concrete consequences. Sweden will also in the future work to ensure that the EU's response to Russia's actions remains decisive, unified, and also legally anchored.
We stand up for the common norms and obligations that underlie the rules-based world order. We continue to work for these principles and that they are upheld even in times of very difficult trials and also in relation to Russia.
Carina Ödebrink (S)
Madam Speaker! I shall begin by saying something, so that I do not forget it, namely to truly urge the Minister and the Government to take all possible conceivable concrete measures so that Sweden will be a country that stands on the barricades when it comes to the three OSCE employees being released.
When the rules-based world order and the agreements of the OSCE member states are challenged or trampled upon, we need today to look at the challenges, problems, and solutions with partially new eyes. The international organizations, conventions, and declarations that the world community established when we saw the consequences of war, fascism, and Nazism need to be protected and strengthened today more than ever. If democracy, human rights, and humanism are to continue to lead us, great efforts are required from all of us every day.
Election observations are, as I have previously stated, one of the core tasks of OSCE's parliamentary assembly. I would therefore like to conclude by raising the question of Sweden's work to strengthen the protection for international observers when it comes to election observations.
International election observers have on several occasions been denied entry to countries where the OSCE's parliamentary assembly participates in missions. This occurred in Turkey and subsequently in Poland, even though the situation in Poland was resolved after negotiations. It is the country that is to have elections that invites the OSCE's election observers, but it is the respective country that itself appoints its election observers.
I therefore want to ask what the Minister and the Government: What measures can the Government take to ensure that the structures and rules governing election observations are upheld and are not politicized depending on the country organizing the election?
Utrikesministern Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Madam Speaker! Sweden is very clear in our important support for OSCE and the task they have, among others, to be election observers. We naturally stand in every situation in favor of their opportunity to also operate.
Sweden's deep commitment to OSCE's third so-called human dimension has meant that we have also played an active role in the four activations of the Moscow Mechanism against Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The latest activation aimed to review Russia's arbitrary arbitrary detentions of Ukrainian civilians in February 2024. The subsequent expert mission established that the continued detention of OSCE observers violates Russia's commitments within the organization.
As chair of the OSCE's HR Committee, the Committee on Human Rights, in 2025 Sweden also has an important role to, together with the Finnish chairmanship, contribute to continuing to hold Russia accountable for the violations it commits and to ensuring that support for Ukraine continues to be kept at the top of the agenda.
Thank you very much for an important debate.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.