Criminals Not Welcome. Security With Integrity.

On July 31st, the OSCE Helsinki+50 conference on security and cooperation in Europe will be held in Finland.

More than 1,000 people will participate in the conference, including the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, representatives from the governments of all 57 OSCE participating states (from Europe, Central Asia, and North America), and 11 partner countries.

According to Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen, the main focus of this summit will be on civil society and its role in strengthening European security and the OSCE principles. For this reason, representatives of civil society organizations were predominantly invited to the conference. Our organization will also participate in this summit.

The main principles of the Helsinki Final Act are the promotion of peace, security, justice, and cooperation in Europe, as well as respect for the sovereignty of other states and human rights.

For many years, Russia has violated these principles, waging an open war of aggression on the territory of independent Ukraine (annexing territories, killing civilians, destroying civilian infrastructure, deporting people and children, and torturing prisoners). Russia has been officially recognized as guilty of numerous crimes against humanity and repeated violations of human rights within Russia itself.

For this reason, and considering that “Russia and its allies block many OSCE decisions,” and that the Russian invitees themselves see this event as “hostile” and are “disgusted by the choice of speakers,” we consider the participation of representatives of the criminal Russian and illegitimate Belarusian regimes at this conference unacceptable. Diplomacy cannot be practiced with people who reject these principles and follow no rules.

The determination to bring the main source of problems to the negotiation table is understandable and worthy of respect, but under current conditions and circumstances, it will have the opposite effect, as it legitimizes the criminal regime and violence through “international dialogue” and sets an example of acceptance, which in turn creates an even greater threat to European security. From the Russian Federation’s perspective, this is interpreted as weakness and unwillingness to take decisive action, as well as readiness to accept the status quo.

On behalf of all protesting Russians, we want to remind the current Russian regime representatives of our main demands:

• Immediate access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to all Ukrainian prisoners, as well as political prisoners imprisoned for anti-war positions
• Ceasefire, return of all annexed Ukrainian territories, and payment of reparations
• Return of Ukrainian military and civilian prisoners, and deported Ukrainian children
• Release of all political prisoners in Russia and Belarus

We call on everyone who agrees with the above to come to Töölönlahti Summer Park (behind the Finlandia Hall) from 10 AM to 12 PM, support this statement with their presence, and express any additions if needed:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1CexZo1bpx/?mibextid=wwXIfr,
and also join the Ukrainian protest action from 8 AM to 10 AM near Finlandia Hall:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1Dx6am3Y7N/?mibextid=wwXIfr.

Come with posters.

July 31, 2025, 10 AM – 12 PM
Töölönlahti Summer Park
“Criminals Not Welcome. Security With Integrity.”