Yelyzaveta Yasko

Yelyzaveta Oleksiyivna Yasko (; born 17 October 1990), also known as Lisa Yasko, is a Ukrainian politician, cultural affairs expert and film producer.

Yasko is a member of the Ukrainian Parliament of the 9th convocation elected in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election and a member of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation. She is the head of inter-parliamentary cooperation, bilateral and multilateral relationships.

Yasko was the Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from September 2019 until January 2020.

Yasko is also a producer of the documentary film "Crimea: Russia's Dark Secret". and a founder of the initiative "Yellow Blue Strategy".

Early life, education and career Yasko was born in Kyiv in 1990.

She holds a Bachelor's and master's degrees with distinction in Political science from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. During 2013–2014, she underwent an exchange program at Lomonosov Moscow State University. Yasko was the first Ukrainian who graduated from Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, holding a master's degree in Public Policy.

Political career Parliamentary career Yasko is a member of the 9th Verkhovna Rada (the parliament of Ukraine) since August 2019. She was elected in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election as number 15 in the list of "Servant of the People". She is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Cooperation, and head of Inter-parliamentary Cooperation, Bilateral and Multilateral Relations. Yasko is a leader of all-party parliamentary group "Happy Ukraine", aiming to foster the development of happiness in Ukrainian society and facilitate social dialogue, well-being, a feeling of security and hope for the future. She is also a member of the "Brand of the Ukrainian state" group.

Yasko actively collaborates with experts, setting up regular expert talks in the Verkhovna Rada. She also supports the development of Romani communities and Roma rights in Ukraine.

Yasko expressed her concerns regarding the preliminary agreement by Ukraine to the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk proposals on the envisioned Advisory Council. In her view, it could undermine international support for Ukraine in the conflict and legitimise Russian proxies in Eastern Ukraine.

She also publicly supported the legislative motion on regulating the process of compensation for the former owners of the nationalised banks, marked as critical for unblocking the IMF's financial support of Ukraine and preventing the default of the Ukrainian state.

Yasko has been engaged in drafting legislation on a range of issues, including the regulation of lobbying, countering corruption, equal representation, remedial action in the wake of Russian military aggression in Ukraine. She was also among the initiators of the Verkhovna Rada Appeal to the Parliaments and Inter-parliamentary Organisations concerning the condemnation of Russian aggression and numerous human rights violations in the occupied Crimea, and of the Statement on nonrecognition of the legitimacy of elections held by Russia in Crimea and Sevastopol.

Yasko has authored the following draft laws: On the principles of sanctions policy (5191), amendments to the Criminal Procedural Code (5192) and the Criminal Code of Ukraine (5193); On the policy of non-recognition (5165) and amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine (5166); On assistance to people from non-democratic countries (5194) and amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine (5195).

She is co-chair of the APPG 'Ukraine 603,700'. The APPG aims to unite the efforts of public authorities, local governments and the public sector in order to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and the rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories.

At Kyiv Security Forum she signed "12 points of strategic partnership between the US and Ukraine", guide for strengthening our cooperation. It is supported by more than 70 politicians and activists.

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Yasko was elected Head of the Ukrainian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 17 September 2019.

Instead, Yasko held consultations with the representatives of other delegations, including those who voted in favour of Russia's return to the organisation. This resulted in the establishment of the informal inter-parliamentary group Baltic Plus, together with the delegations of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Georgia. The aim of the inter-parliamentary group is to produce joint efforts to combat Russia's efforts to undermine the efficiency and legitimacy of PACE and to present a positive agenda on culture, migration, human rights and digitalisation.

On 16 January 2020, the Verkhovna Rada sent its delegation to the 2020 winter PACE session. Yasko explained the return with the "need to battle [for Ukraine] in new conditions at all possible grounds".

Ukrainian delegation initiated concerns regarding the credentials of Russian delegation in the Assembly and spoke against nominating Petr Tolstoi for the Vice President of PACE. It justified its concerns by Russia's systemic failure to comply with the Assembly's resolutions concerning Ukraine and Georgia and presence of Russian MPs elected in the fake elections in the occupied Crimea. Yasko also noted that the goals for the delegation for the Winter Session 2020 would be the de-occupation of Crimea, countering Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, liberation of political prisoners, implementation of Minsk agreements, enhancement of the international sanctions, as well as fight against authoritarianism in Russia itself.

On 31 January 2020, the Ukrainian Delegation, together with the representatives of Estonia, Great Britain, Georgia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Slovakia and Sweden, signed the joint declaration expressing regret of the Assembly's approval of the credentials submitted by the Russian Federation.The signatories to the declaration also demanded on Russia's implementation of resolutions adopted in previous years in respect of the armed aggression in Ukraine, Georgia, and of the utmost concern at the treatment of Crimean Tatars.

At the winter session in 2020 Yasko also delivered a speech condemning Russia's numerous violations of international law and human rights, including the rights of Crimean Tatars.

As Chairperson of the Ukrainian Delegation to PACE, Yelyzaveta Yasko submitted the following motions for resolutions: 'Gradual cultural erasure and other threats to culture', and 'Polarization of the political environment as a hidden danger of population displacement'.

On 11 January 2021, Yasko was replaced as Chairperson of the Ukrainian Delegation to PACE by Maria Mezentseva (also of Servant of the People), and remains a member of the delegation.

During 2014–2015 Yasko was a scholar of the European Forum Alpbach. In 2014 she also represented Ukraine at an international young leaders program Clinton Global Initiative University.

In 2015, along with Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yasko was actively involved in organizing and hosting a music diplomacy event in support of Ukrainian political prisoners illegally detained in Russia. She also founded a startup "Kyiv Music Labs" to promote Ukrainian music and support Ukrainian musicians.

Member of the Swiss peacemaking initiative Caux Initiative of Change. In 2016 she did Caux Scholars Program, a training course on restorative justice, leadership and conflict resolution. In 2018 and 2019 she co-organized the annual conference Caux Dialogue on Land and Security.

She launched the Yellow Blue Strategy Fund. The website states that this is a fund for the cultural promotion of Ukraine and of freedom, and the fund's mission is the cultural integration of Ukraine and its promotion in the world. The organization's activities are aimed at supporting the cultural communication of the regions of Ukraine, and high-quality, effective promotion of Ukraine abroad.

Personal life A few days before former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili's October 2021 return to Georgia he recorded a video on Facebook with Yasko in which they disclosed they were having a romantic relationship. On 1 June 2023 Yasko revealed that she and Saakashvili had become parents, the gender and birthdate of the baby were not announced.

Yasko is the first Ukrainian to have graduated from the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

In her interview for Business Ukraine, Yasko said that she had returned to Ukraine in order to facilitate changes in the country. Having seen the "big picture" from abroad, she said that she had a very positive attitude toward the future of Ukraine.

Yasko was the youngest Chair of the Ukrainian Delegation to PACE.

Yasko financed her studies at Oxford through more than 50 donors, including scholarships (Worldwide Studies, Seed Grant) and a crowdfunding campaign.

She holds a professional music education and author of music and lyrics of over 50 music pieces.

In March 2020, Yasko was listed among NV's Top 100 Ukrainian successful women under number 7 in Politics.