Stenograma dezbaterilor

Marţi, 7 iunie 2022 - Strasbourg

12. Securitatea în cadrul Parteneriatului estic și rolul politicii de securitate și apărare comune (dezbatere)

  Die Präsidentin. – Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über den Bericht von Witold Jan Waszczykowski im Namen des Ausschusses für auswärtige Angelegenheiten über die Sicherheit im Gebiet der Östlichen Partnerschaft und die Rolle der Gemeinsamen Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik (2021/2199(INI)) (A9—0168/2022).

  Witold Jan Waszczykowski, sprawozdawca. – Pani Przewodnicząca! Kiedy rozpoczynałem pracę nad raportem, wiele wskazywało, że jego założenia zostaną ograniczone przez tych, którzy chcą pozwolić Putinowi zachować twarz i dobijać kolejnych targów z rosyjskimi gigantami energetycznymi. Inwazja w lutym spowodowała, że część posłów przejrzała na oczy. Znajduje to odzwierciedlenie w wynegocjowanym przez nasze grupy polityczne sprawozdaniu na temat bezpieczeństwa w regionie Partnerstwa Wschodniego.

Chciałem podkreślić kilka najważniejszych ustaleń raportu. Po pierwsze, domagamy się zwiększenia wysiłków na rzecz dozbrojenia Ukrainy. Nasi wschodni sąsiedzi walczą nie tylko o swoją wolność, ale także o pokojową przyszłość Europy. Rosję należy pokonać, nie przekonać rozmowami telefonicznymi. Po drugie, należy wzmocnić współpracę w dziedzinie bezpieczeństwa, także z pozostałymi krajami Partnerstwa Wschodniego. Przypomnę, że Rosja nadal okupuje terytoria Gruzji i Mołdawii. Na poziomie operacyjnym oznacza to między innymi zwiększenie obecności personelu wojskowego i cywilnego misji Unii. Po trzecie, podkreślamy znaczenie kwestii cyfrowych i współpracy w wymiarze zwalczania rosyjskich działań hybrydowych. Po czwarte, rozwój inicjatywy Trójmorza stanowi istotny element stabilizacji bezpieczeństwa regionu poprzez inwestycje infrastrukturalne. Dokonywane między innymi za pośrednictwem Polski i innych krajów wsparcie logistyczne i dostawy broni na Ukrainę mówią tutaj same za siebie. Po piąte, skoro już mówimy o infrastrukturze, bezpieczeństwo to także kwestie ekonomiczne, stąd apel o jak najszybsze włączenie Ukrainy do wspólnego rynku oraz nadanie Ukrainie i pozostałym państwom statusu kandydackiego. Po szóste, podkreślamy kluczowe znaczenie NATO i zachęcamy do intensyfikacji współpracy sojuszu z państwami Partnerstwa Wschodniego. Należy odrzucić powielaną przez Kreml propagandę, jakoby domniemane zagrożenie ze strony paktu było przyczyną wszczynanych przez Rosję wojen. Inwazja na Gruzję była bowiem pokłosiem odmówienia przyznania temu kraju planu działań na rzecz członkostwa. Rosyjską agresję należy rozpatrywać w kategoriach zasłony dymnej dla nieudolności i skorumpowania rosyjskich elit oraz deklarowanego źródła legitymizacji ich rządów. W tym kontekście pragnę zauważyć, że samo pozbycie się Putina nie przyniesie trwałego pokoju w Europie. Biorąc pod uwagę nastroje społeczne i charakter Rosjan, zostałby on natychmiast zastąpiony przez kogoś może gorszego, bo mniej oderwanego od rzeczywistości i bardziej kompetentnego.

Na koniec chciałbym podkreślić, że zawarte w sprawozdaniu wytyczne wymierzone w powstrzymywanie wpływów Rosji na terenie Partnerstwa Wschodniego stanowią krok w dobrym kierunku. Należy kontynuować tę proponowaną politykę jeszcze przez lata po przegonieniu Rosjan z okupowanych terytoriów Ukrainy, Gruzji czy Mołdawii. Nie możemy bowiem pozwolić Rosji na odbudowanie jej machiny wojennej i zafundowanie nam kolejnej powtórki z historii.

  Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the Commission. – Madam President, honourable Members, well, first of all, I would like to thank rapporteur Witold Waszczykowski for his report.

Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine has changed the security landscape in Europe and is a wakeup call for the EU. This is an attack also to Europe and the whole democratic world. Russia is trying to suffocate Ukraine’s economy through a long war of attrition and a Black Sea blockade.

Our support to Ukraine is unprecedented, mobilising all instruments: political, military, economic and humanitarian, and it will be continued. We have also stepped up considerably our support to Moldova, the most affected neighbour of Ukraine.

Politically, we reached out to our partners to isolate Russia in the international forum. Economically, we responded to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and its civilians with the largest packages of sanctions in EU history.

The EU continues to deliver military support at a fast pace. Our unprecedented military support package of EUR 2 billion under the European Peace Facility helps Ukraine defend its population and territorial integrity. The military support by EU Member States continues to be delivered at a fast pace. The common security and defence policy mission (EUAM Ukraine) has mobilised to provide extra support and facilitate the investigation and prosecution of international crimes committed.

Maintaining international unity and promotion of multilateralism remains vital. Therefore we will continue supporting Ukraine through the OSCE, particularly in a context of closure of the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine provoked by Russia’s obstructive behaviour.

We have proposed to increase non—lethal military assistance measures benefiting Georgia and Moldova. It will support logistics, cyber defence, military, medical, engineering and mobility capabilities. We will present them in June for a planned adoption by the Council in July.

Honourable Members, the work has to end on terms acceptable for Kyiv and with full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders. The EU strongly continues to support Ukraine to win this war.

In the context of Russia’s illegal and unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine, the Strategic Compass clearly stresses our intention to boost our cooperation in the area of security and defence with our eastern partners. Support to Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and countries in the South Caucasus is more important than ever. We will continue supporting our partners and strengthening ties with them.

Thank you for your attention. Slava Ukraini! Long live Europe!

  Miriam Lexmann, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, the Eastern Partnership initiative was always envisaged to support our eastern neighbours in truly building a ring of friends. Unfortunately, the Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin has instead continued to view these countries as its sphere of influence. It regards people’s desire, states’ sovereignty, territorial integrity, undermining the very principles of European and international security.

Today, Putin’s Russia is the number one source of instability for our eastern partners. As such, the European Union, together with our allies, must do all in our power to support our neighbours’ resilience and independence. We must smartly employ both our hard and soft tools in careful synergy. For example, we continue to support Ukraine materially as well as through micro-financial support. We must also support the Belarusian people’s desire for freedom. It is also vital to continue to work with our neighbours on addressing the country’s energy insecurity and to stop Russia from using frozen conflicts and occupied territories to further destabilise these countries.

Finally, we must strengthen societal resilience against disinformation seeking to demoralise and confuse. Although the challenge in front of us is significant, we do have our right tools. What we require now is more strategic foresight and political will to ensure they are fully utilised.

  Juozas Olekas, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Madam President, Vice-President of the Commission, dear colleagues, I believe that the report we discussed today sent a strong signal to the Eastern Partnership countries that the EU is committed to security and stability in the region. Even before the war in Ukraine, in December 2021 during the Eastern Partnership summit, security was identified as one area with a need for more intensive cooperation. Now the need for their cooperation is even greater.

The report is concentrating on the new security environment created by the Russian aggression and our support to Ukraine. Of course, the Eastern Partnership countries are not the same. Each of them have the right to choose their security arrangements and military alliances. But in the future, I believe there is a big potential for the deeper cooperation with many of them on the different security challenges, such as cyber capacity—building.

There’s also a need to increase the level of interoperability between the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU. I believe this can be achieved through the training mission, the increased participation in the PESCO project or the EU CSDP mission.

  Petras Auštrevičius, on behalf of the Renew Group. – Madam President, the continent of Europe is no longer divided into Eastern and Western Europe. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine was a uniting factor, which brought us to the need for strong and reliable common security and defence policy.

The EU must draw conclusions from unprovoked Russian military aggression in Ukraine. The EU must further strengthen the political and operational dimensions of its common security and defence policy. It is vital that the Eastern Partners do not remain in a grey zone of insecurity, or become isolated in a security vacuum. It is important to involve the Eastern Partners in the formulation and implementation of EU security and defence policy. In order to have a safer tomorrow, we must act today.

The European security architecture that can cope with external risks and threats must be inclusive of Eastern Partners. It must be capable of mobilising our defence capabilities and superior to the technological competences of potential adversaries.

I urge the European Commission and the Council to assess the possibility of establishing permanent cooperation structures with the Eastern Partners in the field of security and defence. This is both necessary and mutually beneficial.

  Markéta Gregorová, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, Commissioner, dear colleagues, upgrading the Eastern Partnership is a necessity, and I believe that it’s imperative to develop a strategy to address better security aspects of the EU’s Eastern Partnership policy, taking the security needs of the relevant partner countries as a starting point.

The EU must strengthen the security dimension of the Eastern Partnership, make closer cooperation with CSDP and create a security dialogue to enhance security and stability, but to mainly develop a more active role, especially in the peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflicts and prevention of future ones. I welcome enhancing cooperation through collaboration on building resilience to disinformation and Russian state propaganda to counter the strategic weakening and fragmentation of societies and institutions.

Moreover, I strongly encourage the Member States to cooperate with our EaP partners on cybersecurity, including mutual intelligence, experience sharing on cyber threats and assistance in critical infrastructure. Now more than ever, we must stress the EU’s commitment to all Eastern Partnership countries’ sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence within their internationally recognised borders.

I believe that the result we are presenting today provides just that.

  Nicolaus Fest, im Namen der ID-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin! Heute geht es um die östliche Partnerschaft in Sachen Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik. Aber tatsächlich packt einen die Verzweiflung, wenn man diese Anträge liest. Es gibt wirklich keinen einzigen Antrag mehr in diesem Haus, der nicht von linksgrünen Blütenträumen überladen wird.

Eigentlich, wie gesagt, geht es um Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik. Aber im Antrag geht es auch um Zivilgesellschaft, angebliche Bekämpfung von Desinformation und natürlich um die Rettung des Klimas. Dafür will man einen Klimafonds einrichten. Was aber hat ein Klimafonds mit Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik zu tun? Und dann gibt es natürlich auch Forderungen nach sofortigen Öl- und Gasembargos gegen Russland und die sofortige EU- und NATO-Partnerschaft mit Georgien, Moldawien und so weiter und so weiter.

Man fragt sich wirklich, ob Sie mal irgendwann die russischen Interessen auch irgendwie berücksichtigen. Ich bin absolut kein Freund von Putin, aber man kann schon verstehen, dass so wenig wie die USA wahrscheinlich russische Truppen an der kanadischen Grenze haben wollen, so wenig möchten die Russen amerikanische Truppen an der ukrainisch-russischen Grenze haben. Und das sollte man mal irgendwann zur Kenntnis nehmen.

Dies ist keine Entschließung über Sicherheitspartnerschaft; dies ist eine Entschließung über Unsicherheitspartnerschaft und deshalb zu verwerfen.

  Dominik Tarczyński, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Madam President, the Eastern Partnership is a very serious project, it is a very serious matter, as all we know, especially now during the war, and even though it’s a very serious project and very serious matter, I have to start with a joke. We just heard today from Chancellor Scholz that Germany is the main country with the biggest supply of the weapons to Ukraine. This is what he says today during the interview! And then we hear from France that Russia should not be humiliated! That’s not my words, that’s a joke as well, Mr Commissioner. I treat it as a joke, but it’s not funny.

So before we end up as a funny club, we have to act. And I’m not talking about Poland. Three and a half million Ukrainians are in Poland. And you’ve got 5 000 helmets from Germany in Ukraine. And this is the main support. It’s a joke. It is a joke. So we are not a joke club in here. European Union has to answer itself. Do we want to be funny or do we want to be productive? Because if we will not be productive, Putin will knock to the Berlin’s door, Paris door, and he will not stop there. Remember that.

  Clare Daly, on behalf of the The Left Group. – Madam President, the Eastern Partnership region is a diverse group of states sandwiched between the EU and Russia, and we talk about threats to their security while replicating the policies which contributed to their insecurity in the first place.

Even before the war in Ukraine, the text of this report was radically unacceptable to our group, needlessly confrontational and provocative, oblivious to Russian security concerns, bullish about extending EU influence. And of course, since the war, instead of scrapping this failed policy, the jet engines have been nailed on to every part of it. And yet militarism on one side merely feeds militarism on the other.

And this report is now a gold rush for defence interests. Blank cheques are being written for the arms industry. MEPs are rubber-stamping an historic shift towards a militarised EU. Opposition is discouraged, hardly existent. And we couldn’t amend this report, so we had to produce a minority one because this report calls for aligning with NATO, providing lethal weapons to a conflict, and increasing defence spending. It’s a path to armament and imperialist rivalry, and it’s unacceptable to us.

  Andrea Bocskor (NI). – Tisztelt Elnök Asszony! Az EU keleti partnerség programja az egyik legjobb eszköz az Unió megerősítése szempontjából, és az elmúlt három hónap azt is megmutatta, ha nincs béke és biztonság valamelyik partnerországban, az EU biztonsága és stabilitása is veszélyben van. Így az üres ígéretek helyett határozott, egységes és hiteles üzenetet kell küldeni az uniós tagjelöltséget kérelmező országoknak, nem úgy, mint a nyugat-balkáni országok esetében.

Oroszország Ukrajna elleni agressziója váratlanul ért mindenkit, s egyben megmutatta, hogy a társult országok további integrációja mennyire szükséges. Ukrajna, Moldova és Georgia tagjelölti státuszának megadása erősítheti az EU és a keleti partnerek védelmi és biztonsági képességeit. Fontos, hogy az EU keleti szomszédságában béke és stabilitás legyen. Ukrajna tagjelölti kérelme ebben a helyzetben fontos, szimbolikus politikai üzenettel bír, a jövőre nézve pedig elősegítheti a demokratizálódás és a békekötés utáni gyorsabb talpra állás folyamatát.

A keleti partnerség tartalmi elemei közül kiemelném az infrastrukturális fejlesztés fontosságát, különösen a határ menti régiókban, hisz látjuk most is, hogy a humanitárius segítség a határátkelők kapacitása miatt nehezebben jut el. Végezetül hangsúlyoznám, Magyarország támogatja a békét elősegítő lépéseket, a keleti partnerségi programot, az EU egységes kiállását és szolidaritását Ukrajnával, viszont az ország stabilitása és az állampolgárai érdekében sem az olaj-, sem a gázembargóval nem ért egyet.

  Eugen Tomac (PPE). – Doamna președintă, domnule vicepreședinte al Comisiei, stimați colegi, întotdeauna de când a fost creată Uniunea Europeană răspunsul la toate crizele a fost mai multă integrare și chiar extindere.

Cred că și la ora actuală, în fața provocărilor pe care ni le-a aruncat în față Federația Rusă, răspunsul este tot extinderea, tot mai multă integrare. Și spun acest lucru pentru că în Republica Moldova, domnule vicepreședinte Dombrovskis, majoritatea cetățenilor peste 50 % au decis la alegerile de anul trecut să susțină un singur partid, creat de actualul președinte al Republicii Moldova, Maia Sandu și astfel există o majoritate de peste 60 % cu agendă clar proeuropeană.

Răspunsul Uniunii Europene trebuie să fie perspectiva de aderare a Republicii Moldova la Uniunea Europeană, pentru că ceea ce trebuie să știe Comisia, 50 % din populația Republicii Moldova deja deține cetățenia Uniunii Europene și trebuie să răspundem la această așteptare.

  Marina Kaljurand (S&D). – Madam President, Executive Vice-President, colleagues, we cannot choose our geopolitical neighbours, but we can choose how to build our relations with them. The Eastern Partnership area is our closest neighbourhood and therefore what happens there has a direct impact on our security and safety. This was reiterated by the Strategic Compass, which dedicated adequate focus to the Eastern Partnership countries.

Today, at a time of the worst crisis in Europe since the Second World War, the aggression of Russia against Ukraine, we have to be very clear with our messages. We are committed to supporting the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Eastern Partnership countries. We will support Ukraine until Putin’s criminal regime is defeated and perpetrators of war crimes are brought to justice. We will continue promoting peace, stability, resilience and security in the Eastern neighbourhood. We will rebuild peace and security in Europe.

I would like to thank the rapporteur and all the colleagues who worked on this report and urge everybody to vote for it.

  Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Verts/ALE). – Madam President, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, originally, the Eastern Partnership was created to extend a helping hand to our European neighbours in the East, to share with them European markets, values and prosperity, to shape the Europe of tomorrow together. Fourteen years later, we see that economic prosperity and democratic cooperation are fragile if they are not grounded on the fundamental concept of security.

While the Russian invasion of Ukraine brings only economic uncertainty to Western Europe, in the Eastern Partnership, it causes fear for its own survival. If Ukraine falls, who will be next? This is the question frequently asked by our eastern neighbours. Russia continues to occupy Moldova and Georgia; it has captured Belarus; it makes sure that Armenia and Azerbaijan remain enemies. Putin’s Russia is the main destabilising factor in the region and beyond. Europe will be only peaceful when every country on this continent can enjoy peace. This is why European security should be designed with the Eastern Partnership in mind.

  Adam Bielan (ECR). – Pani Przewodnicząca! Brutalne działania Rosji, które są absolutnym pogwałceniem prawa międzynarodowego stwarzają dla Partnerstwa Wschodniego nowe wyzwania i strategiczne wybory. Przyszłość Ukrainy, Mołdawii i Gruzji jest w Unii Europejskiej i cieszę się, że omawiane sprawozdanie to podkreśla. Nie możemy i nie będziemy akceptować polityki Kremla realizowanej pod lufami karabinów. Po zajęciu Abchazji, Południowej Osetii i Krymu atak na Ukrainę to, mam nadzieję, ostatni przykład zaborczej polityki rosyjskich władz jawnie dążących do restauracji imperium sowieckiego – o czym jako Polacy przestrzegaliśmy od lat. Działania Rosji wymagają zdecydowanego sprzeciwu oraz spójnego i skoordynowanego podejścia państw członkowskich i Partnerstwa Wschodniego.

Wyrażam zadowolenie, iż omawiane sprawozdanie wzywa do wykorzystania Europejskiego Funduszu na rzecz Pokoju w celu koordynacji dostaw broni defensywnej do Ukrainy oraz utworzenia wojskowej misji w tym kraju po zniesieniu stanu wyjątkowego. Ogromne znaczenie ma również współpraca w ramach Sojuszu Północnoatlantyckiego.

Na koniec chciałbym pogratulować posłowi Waszczykowskiemu bardzo dobrego sprawozdania.

  Vladimír Bilčík (PPE). – Madam President, success in the Eastern Partnership is key to the EU’s security and defence policy success. To use a common phrase, without a ring of true and close friends around our borders, our geopolitical ambitions will remain limited. We must therefore respond to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine with clarity. We must give unequivocal support for territorial integrity in the Eastern Partnership countries, including their rights to govern their own exclusive waters, seas and ports.

The Eastern Partnership must be a European partnership. Our Eastern partners must get a solid message from us. If you are with us, we are unconditionally with you, and we fully support your freedom to choose your own destiny, on your own terms, without Russia’s blackmail. Those who want to be our European partners must benefit from close strategic ties by aligning with EU values, principles and positions, including on security and defence.

We have an historic chance to offer a strong security guarantee to our Eastern Partnership countries by underwriting their European future. Those which are serious about joining the European Union must be given a fair chance to do so. A clear-cut candidate status for Ukraine later this month would be the best security and defence move for the Eastern Partnership and the EU itself.

  Marek Belka (S&D). – Madam President, Vice-President, the Eastern Partnership programme was established to foster democracy, open-market economy and development with a presumption that every nation has a right to independently decide on its own future. Unfortunately, these ideas sound like an abomination to the Putins of this world, who only understand the language of power and spheres of influence. Georgia, Moldova and most evidently Ukraine, have to suffer the consequences of having a thug for a neighbour, and the EU itself should feel threatened by his actions.

The common security and defence policy has to gradually transform into an instrument which improves overall regional safety. In order to achieve that, we need to deepen EU-NATO cooperation, support the European defence fund initiative, back PESCO projects and guarantee sufficient funding to the European peace facility. We must not continue outsourcing our security to others.

Spontane Wortmeldungen

  Stanislav Polčák (PPE). – Paní předsedající, já považuji v tuto chvíli, ale nejen v tuto chvíli, Východní partnerství za klíčový prostor pro naši bezpečnost. Je důležité, abychom tyto země, které stojí před obrovskými výzvami, podpořili. Ty výzvy se dají shrnout do pěti jednoznačných bodů: samozřejmě nebezpečí zmrazených konfliktů, ruská agrese v těch daných regionech, ohrožení chudobou, ohrožení klimatickými změnami a vzrůstajícím nacionalismem. Jsem přesvědčen, že země, které spadají do Východního partnerství, si zaslouží naši plnou podporu. Musíme podporovat rozvojové projekty v těch zemích. Nepochybně tyto země mají benefitovat z blízké vazby vůči Evropskému společenství, protože v okamžiku, kdybychom náhodou v některé zemi selhali nebo opustili toto partnerství, necháme tím volný prostor pro další agresivní vliv ruských zájmů v tomto prostoru.

  Billy Kelleher (Renew). – Madam President, Russian aggression in Ukraine shows clearly that Russia does not want to have functioning, free democratic countries along its borders. And I hope there is a clear, unequivocal message from the Council in the next number of weeks around the candidate status for Ukraine in application to join the European Union. At the moment, Ukrainians are dying to defend their homes, their families, their towns and their country. But equally they are dying to defend values that we hold dear in this House. And if we are to be serious about talking about Eastern Partnership, well, the European Union will have to come forward and support in a real, meaningful, tangible way, and that would be to confer candidate status on Ukraine immediately.

I have seen first-hand the devastation in Bucha, in Irpin and other parts of the Ukraine, and it will be shameful for us to turn our backs and not to give clear messages of support and solidarity to the Ukrainian people as they are dying defending the values that we hold dear. So in the next number of weeks confer candidate status and give them hope and support.

(Ende der spontanen Wortmeldungen)

  Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President of the Commission. –Madam President, honourable Members, the Russian aggression has created a new reality for the Eastern Partnership. We are convinced that a regional framework remains valid and is an essential tool for projecting the EU’s values and interests in the Eastern neighbourhood. It is also a tool that helps to deepen our relations with the Eastern partners to the benefit of citizens both in the EU and in the Eastern Partnership countries. A safe, peaceful and prosperous Europe is a goal that we share with our Eastern partners.

We focus today on security and defence policy aspects, but also the resilience—focused framework, endorsed at the Eastern Partnership Summit in December 2021, is even more relevant in the current context. The priorities for cooperation include reforms in the areas of the rule of law, green connectivity, digital and people—to—people contacts, with fundamental values taking a central role in our policy.

Let me thank you for your report. I reaffirm our determination to continue our cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries along those lines.

  Witold Jan Waszczykowski, sprawozdawca. – Pani Przewodnicząca! Dziękuję, Pani Przewodnicząca. Dziękuję za tę rzeczową dyskusję, która kontrastowała z poprzednimi dyskusjami dzisiaj, z bardzo ideologicznymi napadami na Polskę. Dzisiaj dziękuję za poprawki posłów, za wsparcie eksperckie. Partnerstwo Wschodnie nie ma wymiaru bezpieczeństwa i wymiaru wojskowego, stąd misje monitorujące Unii są ważnym uzupełnieniem tego braku. Nie mamy wspólnej polityki obronnej, stąd misje monitorujące są jedną formą pomocy i dialogu na temat bezpieczeństwa z naszymi partnerami.

Nie możemy zmienić mandatu na misje bojowe, stąd w ramach mandatu wykorzystujemy wszelkie zdolności Unii i potencjał do wsparcia partnerów. Stąd jest to trochę Christmas tree, taki dokument. Szukaliśmy zatem we wszystkich politykach europejskich, wszystkich zdolnościach, potencjale europejskim wsparcia dla tych państw. Oczywiście najważniejsza jest dziś broń. I o to też apelowaliśmy w raporcie.

Najważniejszy wniosek to rozszerzenie Unii. To członkostwo Unii. Partnerstwo miało pewien grzech pierworodny. Odrywało te państwa od Rosji, przybliżało do Unii, ale nie gwarantowało członkostwa. Stąd też doprowadziło do pewnego stanu zawieszenia i frustracji. Ten stan limbo trzeba naprawić i przyznać członkostwo, przynajmniej dzisiaj.

We have to grant them the status of candidacy. This status is a political gesture. It does not cost us anything. It must be granted to this country as soon as possible.

  Die Präsidentin. – Die Aussprache ist geschlossen.

Die Abstimmung findet morgen, Mittwoch, 8. Juni 2022, statt.

Schriftliche Erklärungen (Artikel 171)

  Tom Vandenkendelaere (PPE), schriftelijk. – De betrekkingen en samenwerking met onze partners in de naburige oostelijke regio vormen terecht een beleidsprioriteit voor de Unie, evenals de versterking van de Unie op het gebied van veiligheids- en defensiebeleid.

De impact die agressie van Rusland tegen Oekraïne op beide prioriteiten heeft, kan moeilijk worden overschat. De relevantie van het gemeenschappelijk veiligheids- en defensiebeleid voor de verbondenheid met de landen van het Oostelijk Partnerschap is sinds februari enorm toegenomen. Poetin heeft er met zijn waanzinnige oorlog tegen Oekraïne even doelmatig als ongewild toe bijgedragen dat door Europese beleidsmakers snelle beslissingen werden en worden genomen en dat toereikende middelen werden en worden vrijgemaakt, uiteraard ten behoeve van de Unie en haar lidstaten zelf, maar ook ten behoeve van Oekraïne en andere partners in de oostelijke regio. We moeten daarop blijven inzetten en mogen niet wachten tot een volgende crisis ons opnieuw confronteert met onvermogen en afhankelijkheid van derden.

Het is in ieder geval duidelijk dat de NAVO een sleutelrol blijft spelen wat betreft de veiligheidsnoden van de Unie en dat versterkte samenwerking tussen de EU en de NAVO ook in de veiligheidsdimensie van onze betrekkingen met belangrijke oostelijke partners een wereld van verschil maakt.