MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Ukraine
25.2.2014 - (2014/2595(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Helmut Scholz, Nikola Vuljanić, Patrick Le Hyaric, Younous Omarjee, Jaromír Kohlíček on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas since November 2013 – sparked by the Ukrainian Government’s refusal to sign an Association Agreement with the EU – protests against the government’s policy have been continuing and have grown increasingly violent on both sides, with extreme nationalist groups joining the protests; whereas the failure by the political forces, both the government and the opposition, to compromise led to the violent escalation of the situation, in which dozens of people on both sides died and hundreds were injured;
B. whereas the protests started as pro-EU demonstrations but their focus has switched to more domestic issues and has spread from Kyiv to other cities; whereas protestors have been demanding the government’s resignation and the organisation of new parliamentary and presidential elections;
C. whereas the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland brokered an Agreement on the Settlement of Crisis in Ukraine, which was signed by the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, and representatives of the opposition Vitaly Klitschko (UDAR), Oleh Tyahnibok (Svoboda) and Arsenij Yatseniuk (Batkivshchyna);
D. whereas the protesters on the streets of Kyiv did not agree with this compromise, and the agreements aimed at resolving the political and state crisis brokered by the foreign ministers of some EU Member States have been broken by the opposition;
E. whereas Viktor Yanukovich left Kyiv for an unknown destination without having officially resigned;
F. whereas the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) took the initiative and decided to:
– impeach President Yanukovich;
– hold presidential elections on 25 May 2014;
– appoint an interim President who is also the Speaker of the Parliament and coordinator of the government;
– restore the constitution of 2004, according to which a parliamentary-presidential form of government will operate in Ukraine;
– release former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko;
– appoint an interim Attorney-General and several ministers;
G. whereas as a direct response to the change of power in Kyiv the leader of the extreme right-wing party Svoboda, Oleh Tyahnibok, called for the elimination of political and democratic pluralism in Ukraine, for ethnic cleansing of the whole country, and for the restoration of the status of Ukraine as a nuclear power;
H. whereas the headquarters of the Communist Party of Ukraine has been destroyed by radical right-wing forces, and in some regions of Ukraine the Communist Party has been banned; whereas World War II and other memorials have been destroyed;
I. whereas anti-Semitic attacks against Jewish citizens in Kyiv are increasing rapidly, and the Rabbi of Kyiv has advised Jewish citizens to leave the city; whereas the synagogue in Zaporizhia was attacked and damaged;
J. whereas 3 477 deputies from local councils in south‑eastern Ukraine and the Sevastopol region of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea have gathered in Kharkov, have criticised the decisions of the Verkhovna Rada, and have adopted measures they believe local authorities should take in response to the developments in Kyiv;
K. whereas there is still no consensus among the people in Ukraine about the assessment of these developments and the future of the country; whereas Ukraine’s political problems can be solved only by a national debate and a democratic and transparent decision-making process about the future of the country, constitutional and other reforms, and relations with international partners;
1. Deeply deplores the fact that the political crisis in Ukraine was not solved in time to prevent the loss of lives of Ukrainian citizens; expresses its condolences and support to all the families of those who died or were injured; calls on the EU and its Member States to extend the scope of medical assistance for all victims of violence in Ukraine;
2. Calls for an independent and transparent investigation into all recent acts of violence and all human rights violations that have taken place since the demonstrations began, and for the prosecution of those responsible on all sides;
3. Notes the wide-ranging decisions taken by the Verkhovna Rada, but expresses its concern at the fact that not all the members of the parliament were present, since all being present would have given these decisions more democratic legitimacy; notes that the protests in Kyiv are continuing and that the protesters are demanding that measures be taken to prevent oligarchs and those responsible for human rights violations or involved in corruption cases from becoming government members;
4. Notes that the Ukrainian Parliament finally took the initiative to pave the way for early elections; calls on the Verkhovna Rada to adopt, in time for the elections, a new electoral law which meets the rules of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Venice Commission, and to ensure the free and fair conduct of the elections; expects all political parties and institutions to publish, during the transitional period before the elections, their programmes for achieving a lasting solution to the deep social and economic crisis; underlines that this is a necessary element for a democratic debate about the future development of Ukraine;
5. Stresses that it is for the Ukrainian people – and for them alone – to decide, free from foreign interference, about their future, the geopolitical orientation of their country and which international agreements and communities Ukraine should join; calls strongly on the EU, the US and Russia to refrain from any interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine and from any form of financial, economic or political pressure;
6. Urges all political forces to prevent any further use of violence; expresses deep concern at the proliferation of weapons and ammunition in the country; calls on all political forces to ensure the handover of all illegal weapons and ammunition to the Ministry of the Interior;
7. Calls on all political forces within Ukraine and all the international actors involved to commit themselves to work for the territorial integrity and national unity of Ukraine, taking account of the cultural and linguistic composition of the country and its history;
8. Reiterates its concern over the corruption in the country; calls for assets to be made transparent, including all international capital flows into and out of Ukraine belonging to certain politicians in the current administration, former political figures who have been subject to an investigation, and all political parties and their leading figures; points out the fact that the close links between the administration and political institutions and the oligarchs have been one of the decisive barriers to the democratisation process in Ukraine for much of the last two decades; calls on the EU and its Member States to step up efforts to stop money laundering and tax evasion by Ukrainian companies and business persons in European banks;
9. Calls on the EU to grant Ukraine the financial assistance it urgently needs to overcome the current economic and social crisis; stresses that this assistance should not be made conditional on austerity measures;
10. Expresses deep concern at the cooperation by the democratic forces with openly nationalistic and anti-Semitic forces, who are reported to receive direct political and financial support from abroad, including from partners within EU Member States; calls urgently on all the political forces and on civil society, therefore, to reject nationalistic and anti-Semitic policies;
11. Condemns the attacks against the Communist Party of Ukraine and the attempts to ban the party; calls on the interim authorities to guarantee democratic rights and freedoms to all democratic political forces and to prevent any attacks;
12. Strongly condemns and expresses deep concern at the anti-Semitic actions of extreme right-wing forces;
13. Calls urgently on the transitional institutions of Ukraine to abide by the country’s international obligations, in particular in its capacity as a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and as a member of the Council of Europe, and to ensure the strict respect of democratic rights and freedoms, human rights, the protection of minorities, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly and speech; calls on all the EU institutions and Member States, as well as on other foreign political actors, to not only issue appeals in that regard but to make any financial support for Ukraine dependent on the respect of these standards and obligations;
14. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Parliament and Government of Ukraine, and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and of the Council of Europe.