The European Union welcomed the 22 February decision...

The European Union welcomed the 22 February decision of the Parliament of Ukraine to abolish the death penalty and to ratify Protocol 6 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms concerning the abolition of the death penalty. The European Union said it considered that abolition of the death penalty as contributing to the enhancement of human dignity and the progressive development of human rights and reaffirmed its objective to work towards its universal abolition or at least the introduction of a moratoria on executions as a first step towards that aim.