VP/HR — Presence of ISIS combatants in areas disputed by Ukraine and Russia

27.7.2015

Question for written answer E-011933-15
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 130
Matteo Salvini (ENF)

On 7 July, the New York Times reported the presence of a Chechen volunteer force made up of ISIS sympathisers in territories disputed by Russian separatists and Ukrainian troops.

It appears that they have openly sided with Ukraine in a bid to weaken Russia and compel it to concentrate its forces on that country, drawing resources away from other fronts on which it is pitted against various Islamic terrorist groups.

To date, the Ukrainian authorities have made no attempt to deny the reports and have neither disowned these fundamentalist ISIS combatants nor sought to remove them from territory Ukraine has been claiming is its own.

Given the serious danger posed by ISIS and Islamic terrorism in general, as confirmed recently by the tragic attacks in France and Tunisia, does the Vice-President/High Representative not consider it appropriate to rethink her stance regarding the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and engage in closer dialogue with Russia with a view to containing this fundamentalist threat?