CEE Coalition 4/6/26 CEE Coalition 4/6/26

Congress Should Not Invite Russian Duma Members

The Central & East European Coalition would like to express deep outrage over the visit of a delegation of sanctioned Russian Duma members to Congress on March 26. This act is a dangerous invitation of espionage into the US Congress. As Americans, we’re appalled.

CEE Coalition 2/24/26 CEE Coalition 2/24/26

It’s Past Time to Increase Pressure on Putin

This February marks four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and one year since US and Russian delegates met in Saudi Arabia to begin talking about a way to end the war.

One year later, there is no end in sight. In fact, more people are dying, more children are being kidnapped, and a kholodomor, “death by cold”, is taking place in Ukraine.

The war will end only when the threat from Russia is neutralized.

CEE Coalition 1/20/26 CEE Coalition 1/20/26

CEEC Advocates Meet with Congressional Offices to Advance Support for Nations Threatened by Russian Aggression

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‍Central & East European Coalition Advocates Meet with Congressional Offices to Advance Support for Nations Threatened by Russian Aggression

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lucas Vroege
January 20, 2026 e-mail: unis@ucca.org

CEEC advocates with legislative staffers from Senator Mitch McConnell’s Office.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, January 15, representatives of the Central & East European Coalition (CEEC) met with the offices of five key members of Congress to discuss critical security issues affecting the region and U.S. strategic interests.

The bipartisan outreach included meetings with the offices of Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Representative Bill Keating (D-MA), and Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX). CEEC advocates thanked the lawmakers for their continued support for Ukraine's defense and their efforts to counter Russia's hybrid warfare tactics against NATO allies and regional partners.

The Key Policy Priorities Discussed included:

Ukraine: CEEC representatives discussed the current status of congressional appropriations for Ukraine following passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the NDAA to authorize $400 million to fund the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). The coalition stressed the encouragement of representatives to give a special floor speech on the Ukrainian children trafficked and abducted by the Putin regime. Along with the NDAA, Republican staffers also provided the need to push Senator Lindsey Graham’s office to share with other Republican colleagues key moral issues to combat Russian narratives, including persecuted Christians in Russian occupied territories in Ukraine, by sharing critical information from foreign affairs committee hearings, including the Senate’s Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the abduction of Ukrainian Children. The CEEC informed Congressional and ethnic diaspora representatives about the upcoming Ukraine Days on Capitol Hill during the anniversary dates of the invasion on February 23-24 to continue the dialogue.

Russian Energy Sanctions: The coalition expressed strong support for two bipartisan bills introduced by Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX): the Ending Importation of Laundered Russian Oil Act and the No Aid for Russian Energy Act. These bills aim to impose critical sanctions on Russia's energy sector and close existing loopholes by banning American individuals and companies from providing crucial energy supplies, services, equipment, and software to Russian energy institutions.

Georgian Security and Strategic Alignment: CEEC urged passage of the MEGOBARI Act, raising alarm that the Georgian government’s actions are creating serious vulnerabilities for U.S. and regional security. CEEC elaborated on how Georgia has become vulnerable to covert operations and sanctions evasion by Iran, China, and Russia. CEEC emphasized that passing the MEGOBARI Act would demonstrate that the United States will not tolerate anti-American rhetoric, malign influence, or misappropriation of U.S. investment in the South Caucasus.

Baltic Security Initiative: The coalition highlighted the importance of the Baltic Security Initiative (BSI) as a tool to help NATO partners resist Russian aggression, along with raising the importance of the USAI. All three Baltic nations have exceeded NATO defense spending targets. While BSI funding has been authorized by the NDAA, appropriations are pending in the upcoming defense spending bill.

CEEC continues to work with allies in Congress who recognize the challenge to U.S. security and economic interests posed by the Putin regime and encourages support for these legislative initiatives.

Alianta • American Hungarian Federation • American Latvian Association • Armenian Assembly of America • Belarusian-American Association • Washington Chapter Czechoslovak National Council of America • Estonian American National Council • Georgian Association in the USA • Hungarian American Coalition • Joint Baltic American National Committee • Lithuanian American Council • Lithuanian American Community • National Federation of Croatian Americans Cultural Foundation • Polish American Congress • Slovak League of America • Ukrainian Congress Committee of America • Ukrainian National Association

ceecadvocacy.org * ceecoalition@gmail.com

CEE Coalition 12/19/25 CEE Coalition 12/19/25

CEEC Statement on the Passage of NDAA

The Central & East European Coalition (CEEC) would like to thank Congressional leaders and President Trump for signing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law. We would like to remind Congress of the importance of pursuing a regional strategy to combat hybrid warfare tactics which include border incursions, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, energy weaponization, and corruption.

CEE Coalition 10/16/25 CEE Coalition 10/16/25

Letter to the Trump Administration regarding abducted Ukrainian Children

This letter to the White House asserts the importance in the U.S. support to ensure the 20,000+ Ukrainian children abducted to Russia and Russian held territories. It emphasizes the need to recognition their return back to their respected families and that children should never be used as leverage for negotiations to end the war.

The President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

The Central & East European Coalition (CEEC) congratulates you on your successful solution to the Israel-Hamas War that ravaged Gaza for two years. You negotiated a ceasefire and the return of the hostages that had inspired all world leaders. As you stated so eloquently before the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, “empty words don't solve war. The only thing that solves war is action.”

We trust you will maintain this winning momentum when it comes to bringing an end to Russia’s failed but still-ongoing invasion of Ukraine. This war continues to take thousands of lives unnecessarily. In addition, over 35,000 Ukrainian children remain kidnapped by their Russian captors. Their safety and return should be the highest priority.

The United States must help provide military support to soundly trounce and oust these Russian aggressors for good. As you did for the Israel-Gaza conflict, please apply the needed pressure and sanctions on Russia to come up with a solution that allows Ukraine to reclaim all of its stolen land (“and then some,” as you suggested), and secure reparations from Russia for the damage it has done over the past 10 years.

Should you or your staff have any further questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact the CEEC's Ukrainian representative, Michael Sawkiw, President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), at msawkiw@ucca.org or 202-256-2035.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Most respectfully,

The Central and Eastern European Coalition (CEEC)

CC:

• The Honorable JD Vance, Vice President of the United States

• The Honorable Mike Johnson (R-LA), Speaker of the House

• The Honorable John Thune (R-SD), Senate Majority Leader

• The Honorable Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader

• The Honorable Steve Scalise (R-LA), House Majority Leader

• The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Minority Leader

• The Honorable Marco Rubio, Secretary of State

• The Honorable Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense

ceecadvocacy.org * ceecoalition@gmail.com

CEE Coalition 8/22/25 CEE Coalition 8/22/25

Statement from Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) on the Trump-Putin Summit in Alaska and the Upcoming Zelensky Meeting

The CEEC released a statement on August 22 thanking President Trump engaging with President Zelensky and European leaders to commence discussions for the end of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukriane and security guarantees for Ukraine. The statement also lists policy recommendations on what an ideal path forward to achieve peace through strengthen.

The Central & Eastern European Coalition (CEEC) – representing over 20 million Americans of Central & East European heritage – thanks President Trump for engaging to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Vladimir Putin remains an aggressive, brutal dictator and war criminal; there can be no concessions that reward his aggression or diminish Ukraine’s sovereignty.
We, the Central & East European Coalition, stand together in the belief that the way to achieving peace is through strength, the basis of which is:

No continued discussions and unconditional ceasefires and peace deals about Ukraine without Ukraine.
U.S. and European allies’ financial cooperation to bolster NATO defense capabilities and provide security guarantees for Ukraine.
Russia’s return of all Ukrainian children they have kidnapped and trafficked to Russia, Belarus, and temporarily Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine.
Full blocking sanctions on all Russian financial institutions and foreign entities that have provided economic, energy, aerospace, and defense capabilities for the Russian war economy.
Accountability for and reparations from the Putin regime for the crimes against humanity it has inflicted on the Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians.

While no ceasefire or resolution resulted from the Trump–Putin meeting, we welcome President Trump’s invitation for President Zelensky to visit Washington to continue negotiations. Any path to a just peace must include Ukraine as a full party, be coordinated with our European allies and partners, and uphold accountability for Russian crimes against humanity. Any agreement must guarantee Ukraine’s security and territorial integrity.

CEE Coalition 5/22/25 CEE Coalition 5/22/25

CEEC Statement on the MEGOBARI Act in the U.S. House of Representatives

The Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) welcomes the U.S. House of Representatives’ bipartisan passage of the MEGOBARI Act (Mobilizing and Enhancing Georgia’s Options for Building Accountability, Resilience, and Independence) with a decisive 349–42 vote on May 5th. This legislation affirms the United States’ steadfast support for the Georgian people’s democratic aspirations and pursuit of Euro-Atlantic integration.

The MEGOBARI Act authorizes targeted sanctions against individuals within the Georgian Dream government found to have engaged in corruption or to have obstructed Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration through violence or intimidation. It also mandates a comprehensive review of U.S.–Georgia relations and underscores the U.S. commitment to countering authoritarian influences, particularly Russia, China, and Iran.

The CEEC urges the U.S. Senate to act swiftly in passing this critical legislation. Prompt Senate approval will reinforce the United States’ commitment to democratic principles and the rule of law in Georgia and the broader region. It will also send a clear message that the American people stand with the Georgian people in their struggle against authoritarianism and in support of their sovereignty and democratic future.

As advocates for the democratic development and Euro-Atlantic integration of Central and Eastern Europe, the CEEC stands in solidarity with the Georgian people. We commend the House of Representatives for its leadership and call upon the Senate to uphold these values by enacting the MEGOBARI Act immediately.

CEE Coalition 4/4/25 CEE Coalition 4/4/25

CEEC Statement on The Abduction of Ukrainian Children

One hope to which grieving families could cling was a U.S.-based program at the Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) that tracked those children. It had collected a tremendous amount of critical data on these children’s whereabouts. The move to freeze funding led to fears that such data and tracking could be discontinued, lost, deleted, or the safety of these kidnapped children jeopardized.

The Central and East European Coalition (CEEC)—representing over 20 million Americans of Central and East European heritage— was profoundly alarmed at the Trump administration’s temporary discontinuation of the tracking of Ukrainian children kidnapped by invading Russian forces.

We appreciate the administration’s efforts to restore “short-term” funding to this effort, but long-term funding is essential.

Since mid-March 2022, Russia has forcibly transferred almost 20 thousand* Ukrainian children to areas under its control, assigned them Russian citizenship, forcibly adopted them into Russian families, and created obstacles for their reunification with their parents and homeland. The numbers could actually run into the hundreds of thousands.

In a statement regarding President Trump’s March 19th phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two leaders had discussed “the children who had gone missing from Ukraine during the war, including the ones that had been abducted. President Trump promised to work closely with both parties to help make sure those children were returned home.”

We certainly hope this is true.

Attached is a letter dated March 20, 2025, from Senators Grassley, Klobuchar, and others addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing the same concerns. We call on the administration to prioritize the welfare of these Ukrainian children so cruelly abducted by Russian forces, to restore and maintain long-term funding and intelligence operations to locate them, and to return them to their distraught families in Ukraine.

* Russian authorities have claimed that over 700,000 Ukrainian children have been transferred by mid-2023, and Ukraine’s ombudsman on children’s rights believes that the actual number of abducted children may be in the hundreds of thousands

CEE Coalition 3/27/25 CEE Coalition 3/27/25

CEEC Supports Immediate Restoration of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

The CEEC vehemently opposes the Trump administration’s move to dismantle the Voice of America (VOA) and its sister organizations, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), as well as Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB).

The Central and East European Coalition (CEEC) – representing over 20 million Americans of Central and East European heritage – vehemently opposes the Trump administration’s move to dismantle the Voice of America (VOA) and its sister organizations, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), as well as Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB). The Trump administration has dismantled their parent organization, the United States Agency for Global Media, put all of its employees on leave, and ended their funding. This has effectively shut them down. CEEC works to preserve democratic gains throughout Central and Eastern Europe and views VOA and RFE/RL as cornerstones in these efforts.

For decades, VOA, RFE/RL, RFA, and OCB have been vital sources of news and information for people around the globe. Their mission to provide unbiased and reliable reporting has fostered transparency, promoted democratic ideals, and supported basic human freedoms—values that are critical not just to the people of Central and Eastern Europe, but to individuals in every corner of the world. They have positioned the USA as a global beacon of truth.

Their broadcasts transcend borders and language barriers, helping to combat misinformation in general and propaganda against the USA. The dissemination of truthful information is paramount to ensuring our leadership, stability, fostering democratic development, and defending the rights of free expression. These efforts are especially significant in regions that have historically lacked independent media outlets. Russian, Chinese, and other adversaries’ media are now rejoicing at the gutting of a major source of free and truthful information to their citizens, leaving a strategic void that allows them to broadcast only state-sponsored propaganda.

The CEEC supports the immediate restoration of funds and recall of all employees to the United States Agency for Global Media and its organizations. We call on Congress and the President to take all necessary steps to ensure their funding and continuation.

CEE Coalition 2/27/25 CEE Coalition 2/27/25

CEEC Letter to Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio

On behalf of the members of the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC), representing over 20 million Americans, we write in response to your recent remarks in Munich concerning Ukraine.

February 27, 2025

J.D. Vance

Vice President of the United States of America

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. Vice President,

On behalf of the members of the Central and East European Coalition (CEEC), representing over 20 million Americans, we write in response to your recent remarks in Munich concerning Ukraine.

In the words of Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, “There are good guys and bad guys in this war, and the Russians are the bad guys.” Over 80% of Americans are afraid of Russia, per a recent Ronald Reagan Institute poll.

The U.S. has wrongly offered concessions to Russia, inexplicably blaming the victim Ukraine for the crime of being invaded by Russia, ignoring the legitimacy of Ukraine as a sovereign nation, and reneging on everything that the United States has stood for over the past 80 years.

There is no reasoning with a brutal dictator, and there is no basis for Ukraine to concede territory. The only just outcome would be for Russia to completely withdraw all of its violent invading forces from Ukraine immediately and forever and be forced to pay reparations for the horrendous damage it has inflicted.

The people of Ukraine and the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia spent 50 years under Russian oppression. In the 35 years since regaining independence from the USSR, these countries have prospered in successful self-governance. In 2004, the Baltic countries became members of NATO and the European Union, a membership that guaranteed their security. Ukraine deserves the same.

Russia is a violent aggressor trying to forcibly seize the land and wealth of its more prosperous neighbors. Putin will not stop with Ukraine. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia know that. Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO knowing that.

Russia is economically on the ropes right now. Its foolhardy attack upon its more prosperous neighbor Ukraine has bankrupted Russia and killed the flower of its youth. Now is the time for the United States to press its advantage and help Ukraine, not prop up its invader.

History will judge the United States on how it handles this moment.

Respectfully,

The Central and East European Coalition

CEE Coalition 11/28/24 CEE Coalition 11/28/24

CEEC Statement on Holodomor Anniversary

It is time to assert that both the Holodomor and the current war of Russian aggression against Ukraine are genocides.

CEE Coalition 5/29/24 CEE Coalition 5/29/24

CEEC Statement on the Georgian “Transparency of Foreign Influence” Bill and the U.S. Response

The CEEC strongly condemns the Kremlin-inspired bill “On the Transparency of Foreign Influence”, passed in the Georgian parliament, as it suppresses civic freedoms and damages Georgia’s strategic partnership with the U.S. and its Euro-Atlantic aspirations

CEE Coalition 1/25/24 CEE Coalition 1/25/24

Congress should pass the National Security Supplemental Funding Bill now

As the leader of the free world, acting in concert with our European partners, America cannot let our allies stand alone at this pivotal moment.

CEE Coalition 12/21/23 CEE Coalition 12/21/23

CEEC Statement on Appalling Number of Kidnapped Ukrainian Children

In July, RFE/RL reported that Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova has said that more than 700,000 Ukrainian children have been taken from Ukraine to Russia since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some were forcibly deported in family units, but many were kidnapped from living parents or after their parents had been killed by invading Russian forces.