MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation in Ukraine
15.7.2014 - (2014/2717(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 123(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Charles Tannock, Anna Elżbieta Fotyga, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Tomasz Piotr Poręba, Ryszard Czarnecki, Mark Demesmaeker, Roberts Zīle, Bas Belder, Geoffrey Van Orden, Ruža Tomašić on behalf of the ECR Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0025/2014
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the European Council conclusions of 27 June 2014,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine,
– having regard to the Joint Declaration of the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit of 29 November 2013,
– having regard to Rule 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the people of Ukraine rose up against a corrupt government which refused to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union;
B. whereas the Ukrainian Parliament changed the Constitution and joined the Ukrainian people in their fight for European values of human rights, liberty and democracy;
C. whereas violence erupted in eastern Ukraine in April, when separatists declared independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, following Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea;
D. whereas President Petro O. Poroshenko has declared a 15-point plan for the peaceful settlement of the crisis in eastern Ukraine, including disarmament of secessionist forces;
E. whereas the Ukrainian authorities declared a unilateral ceasefire which enabled consultations between Ukraine, Russia, the OSCE and separatist forces; whereas in view of the lack of any substantial progress and continued military actions by pro-Russian forces, including the shooting-down of a Ukrainian military helicopter, President Poroshenko decided to renew the military efforts of government forces to defeat the separatist insurrection in the east;
F. whereas in this new offensive Ukrainian government forces expelled pro-Russian insurgents from Slovyansk, a long-blockaded rebel stronghold, and retook 23 out of 36 regions previously controlled by the separatists in Donetsk and Lugansk districts, as well as the important border checkpoint at Dolzhansky;
G. whereas, according to NATO sources, Russia has allegedly been sending main battle tanks, artillery and other weapons to the rebels, and allowing fighters from Russia to cross the border to join rebel militias;
H. whereas at least 200 people have been killed and another 600 injured since the start of Kiev’s officially designated ‘anti-terrorist operation’ in eastern Ukraine, while the number of Ukrainian refugees has reached 110 000 people, and IDPs are estimated at more than 54 000;
I. whereas on 27 June the EU signed an Association Agreement with Ukraine, along with Georgia and Moldova; whereas the signing of this agreement recognises the aspirations of the people of Ukraine to live in a country governed by European values, democracy and the rule of law;
J. whereas Russian political leaders have attempted to use historical revanchist and irredentist sentiments in order to legitimise separatist actions, and have been publicly stating that what is now south-east Ukraine was, under the Tsars, a Russian region called Novorossiya;
K. whereas Russia has used its military to seize control and then illegally annex Ukrainian Crimea, after lending support to local separatist groups; whereas this scenario has been repeated in the case of eastern Ukraine, thus breaching all principles of the Helsinki Accords;
L. whereas, in line with the G7 statement and as agreed at the Foreign Affairs Council of 14 April, the EU has also expanded the list of persons subject to targeted sanctions for actions undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, with travel bans and asset freezes on a further 15 individuals;
M. whereas President Vladimir Putin has declared that Russia will ‘continue to actively defend the rights of Russians, our compatriots abroad, using the entire range of available means – from political and economic to operations under international humanitarian law and the right of self-defence’;
N. whereas on 16 June Russia cut off all gas supplies to Ukraine, claiming that Ukraine had failed to settle its debts with Gazprom; whereas Russia threatens to punish Ukraine, along with Georgia and Moldova, for signing the Association Agreements with the EU, introducing bans on its dairy and other products;
O. whereas the Russian aggression and seizure of Crimea were in breach of international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, at least three Ukrainian-Russian agreements on bilateral relations from 1997, and in particular the Budapest NPT Memorandum of 1994 and the main acts of the OSCE;
P. whereas the Commission has decided to create a Support Group for Ukraine, acting as a focal point providing structure and guidance for the Commission’s work to support Ukraine and helping mobilise Member States’ expertise and further enhance coordination with other donors and the International Financial Institutions; whereas the European Commission has adopted a large support package for Ukraine worth €11.1 billion over the next seven years;
Q. whereas on 25 May Ukraine held presidential elections that were in line with international commitments and fully respected fundamental freedoms in the vast majority of the country, despite the hostile security environment in the two eastern regions and the annexation of Crimea by Russia;
1. Expresses its solidarity with Ukraine and support for the peace plan presented by President Poroshenko and urges Russia not to threaten Ukraine with military invasion; takes note of the Russian President’s declaration of support in principle of the peace plan and the Federation Council’s decision to revoke the authorisation to use Russian forces to intervene militarily in Ukraine; recalls that in order to reach a lasting truce and implement the peace plan, Russia should cease any financial, political or military support for the separatists in the east of Ukraine;
2. Urges the Russian Federation, in this connection, to refrain from supporting illegally armed groups and to stop the flow of weapons and militants into the east of Ukraine, and calls on the European Council to impose further sectoral economic sanctions on Russia if it fails to do so; in this context, urges France to halt the sale of Mistral-class assault warships to Russia;
3. Welcomes the good will shown by the Ukrainian side in adopting a unilateral ceasefire and regrets that the separatists refused to follow that example; welcomes the liberation from rebel control of Slovyansk and the border checkpoint at Dolzhansky by Ukrainian forces; calls for cessation of all military hostilities and implementation of the peace plan with constructive cooperation from Russia and under the auspices of and monitoring by the OSCE;
4. Expresses its solidarity with the Ukrainian nation united in its struggle to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine;
5. Condemns Russia’s aggression on Crimea as a grave violation under international law of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity and rejects the Russian policy of the fait accompli in foreign relations; considers the annexation of Crimea to be illegal and refuses to recognise Russian de facto rule on the peninsula, including the decision to prohibit the importation of goods from Crimea and Sevastopol which do not have a Ukrainian certificate;
6. Recalls that the existing borders of Ukraine were fully guaranteed when it relinquished its nuclear weapons and joined the NPT by the United States of America, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom in the Budapest memorandum on security assurances; also reminds the Russian Federation that, together with the two other countries mentioned above, in the same document it committed itself to refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to its own interest the exercise by Ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind;
7. Is concerned about the attempts made by Russian political leaders and members of government to use historical revanchist and irredentist arguments in order to further escalate the situation in the eastern part of Ukraine, as well as using the situation of Russian-speaking citizens in other countries as an excuse for launching diplomatic, economic or even military actions against sovereign countries and members of the former Soviet Union;
8. Reiterates its call on Russia not to use gas and oil as a tool for coercion and pressure on its neighbours; in this regard underlines the need to ensure a secure energy supply for Ukraine and those EU Member States which would be affected in the event of possible gas and oil cuts from Russia;
9. Welcomes the signing of the Association Agreement with Ukraine and underlines Ukraine’s legally recognised prospect of eventual membership of the EU, which is granted in principle by Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union;
10. Strongly condemns the intimidation of journalists by the self-proclaimed ‘authorities’ in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including physical threats and abductions; expresses its condolences to the family of a Russian journalist killed in Eastern Ukraine and deplores the illegal detention of Ukrainian reporters by separatist forces in the Luhansk region; underlines the need for all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of journalists as a paramount concern;
11. Underlines the need to defend European interests and values and to promote stability, prosperity and democracy in the countries on the European continent and to engage with global strategic partners, in particular the transatlantic ones;
12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Member States, the President of Ukraine, the governments and parliaments of the Eastern Partnership countries and of the Russian Federation, the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.