On the need for unwavering support for Ukraine, after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

B90142/2024

European Parliament resolution on the need for unwavering support for Ukraine, after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine

(2024/2526(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Charter of the United Nations, in particular to the obligation of all states under Article 2 of the Charter to refrain, in their international relations, from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the UN, and to settle their international disputes by peaceful means,

− having regard to UN General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970, in particular the principles contained therein that the territory of a state may not be the object of acquisition by another state resulting from the threat or use of force, and that any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and territorial integrity of a state or country or at its political independence is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,

− having regard to UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974, which defines aggression as the use of armed force by a state against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the UN Charter,

− having regard to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and Additional Protocol I thereto of 1977,

− having regard to the Helsinki Final Act, the Charter of Paris for a New Europe and the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances,

− having regard to the reports of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Ukraine,

− having regard to the regular reports of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),

− having regard to the UN General Assembly resolutions adopted since the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine,

− having regard to the application for EU membership by Ukraine on 28 February 2022, the Commission communication of 17 June 2022 entitled ‘Commission Opinion on Ukraine’s application for membership of the European Union’ (COM(2022)0407) and the subsequent European Council conclusions of 23 and 24 June 2022,

− having regard to European Court of Auditors Special Report 23/2021 entitled ‘Reducing grand corruption in Ukraine: several EU initiatives, but still insufficient results’,

− having regard to European Court of Auditors Opinion 03/2023 concerning the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing the Ukraine Facility,

– having regard to the reports of the High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War of 9 February 2024 entitled ‘An environmental compact for Ukraine’ and of December 2023 entitled ‘Climate Damage Caused by Russia’s War in Ukraine’,

– having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the Russian Federation has been carrying out a full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022, in a blatant and flagrant violation of the UN Charter and the fundamental principles of international law;

B. whereas regular waves of attacks on energy infrastructure continue to cause destruction, leave millions of people across Ukraine with no electricity and disrupt water supply and heating systems; whereas the attacks have also damaged other civilian infrastructure; whereas thousands of civilians across Ukraine, including hundreds of children, have already been killed, injured or forcibly displaced; whereas according to UN humanitarian agency OCHA, more than 14.6 million people, around 40 % of the Ukrainian population, will need humanitarian aid in 2024; whereas the war has forced millions of people to flee and nearly 4 million are still internally displaced throughout Ukraine, while over 6 million live as refugees abroad; whereas the war has resulted in 65 % of households reporting a decrease in their incomes since February 2022; whereas 44 % of households struggle to obtain enough money to meet their needs, and 45 % of the population belongs to at least one vulnerable group; whereas 3.6 million people are at risk of experiencing gender-based violence; whereas the prolongation of the conflict will result in persisting and worsening urgent needs in the coming months;

C. whereas on 30 September 2022, Russia unilaterally declared its annexation of the partly Russian-occupied Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, in addition to its previous annexation of the Crimean peninsula;

D. whereas people all over Europe are deeply concerned about the war, which has the potential to result in a war between nuclear power states;

E. whereas Russian authorities have made undue use of force against peaceful protests against the war; whereas the laws on regulating public gatherings and against denigrating the Russian armed forces and the ‘dissemination of deliberately false information’ are being used to further crack down on the opposition; whereas the cases of Alexei Navalny, Alexei Moskaliov, Boris Kagarlitsky and Sergei Udaltsov are further evidence of the regime’s crackdown against all opponents;

F. whereas Ukraine has banned 11 opposition parties, including parties present in parliament, and critical anti-government and pacifist voices are subject to strong repression, arrests and intimidation, as in the cases of Gonzalo Lira, Yurii Sheliazhenko and Mikhail and Aleksander Kononovich;

G. whereas the war in Ukraine has resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides, and according to several military analysts, there is no military solution to the conflict in sight in the short term;

H. whereas various representatives of European governments have declared the need for further European rearmament, including nuclear rearmament;

I. whereas Ursula von der Leyen stated that the next European Commission must have a commissioner for defence;

J. whereas the EU has allocated billions of euro to strengthening the capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces;

1. Reiterates, in the strongest possible terms, its condemnation of the attack on Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty resulting from the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine; condemns this invasion as a war of aggression which constitutes a serious violation of international law, in particular the UN Charter, and for which there is no justification; condemns Belarus’s involvement in this aggression;

2. Expresses its deepest solidarity with the people of Ukraine;

3. Stresses that on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, now more than ever, there is a need for urgent, intensive and sustained diplomatic efforts to immediately put an end to the war in Ukraine and the suffering of the Ukrainian people; regrets that a diplomatic and peaceful resolution to the conflict has not yet been found to date;

4. Demands that the Russian Federation cease its use of force against Ukraine and refrain from any unlawful threat or use of force against any EU Member State; demands that the Russian Federation withdraw its military forces from the territory of Ukraine;

5. Urges Russia, in the strongest terms, to turn back from the path of violence and aggression it has chosen and to return to the path of dialogue and negotiation; urges NATO and its member countries not to escalate the conflict by starting a new arms race and to design their response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a manner that leaves ways out of the confrontation between Russia and NATO;

6. Reaffirms its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, extending to its territorial waters; stresses that the EU will not recognise any decision on the annexation of territories of third states and calls on Russia to reverse its decision on the annexation of Ukrainian territories;

7. Expresses its dismay at the continuous large-scale Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure, including energy facilities, residential areas, schools and hospitals; urges Russia to immediately stop all hostilities, bombardments and attacks against civilians; demands that all parties fully comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law to spare the civilian population and civilian objects, to refrain from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless objects necessary for the survival of the civilian population and to respect and protect humanitarian personnel and consignments used for humanitarian relief operations; stresses that those responsible for war crimes must be held accountable in accordance with international law;

8. Demands that all parties allow refugees safe and unfettered passage to destinations both within and outside of Ukraine and facilitate rapid, safe and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance for those in need in Ukraine; commends the extraordinary efforts made by humanitarian organisations, communities in the EU Member States and neighbouring countries, and members of the public in responding to the humanitarian and refugee crises created by the Russian Federation’s aggression; urgently calls for the EU and its Member States to provide more support to these actors;

9. Stresses the need to ensure that nobody fleeing Ukraine is being prevented from leaving, including victims of reproductive exploitation, and that all persons fleeing can benefit from protection, including international students, trans women and Ukrainian conscientious objectors, and are able to move onwards within the EU; condemns the detention of international students fleeing Ukraine; regrets that Ukrainian men of a prescribed age are prohibited by the Ukrainian authorities from fleeing the war; calls on the Ukrainian and Russian authorities to reconsider their policies of forced conscription of men between the ages of 18 and 60 with no military experience; expresses concern, furthermore, over the ‘partial mobilisation’ decreed in Russia in September 2022, which prohibits Russian men from leaving the country after receiving a conscription notice;

10. Urges the UN and its member states to step up their efforts to launch the political dialogue and mediation needed to prepare ceasefire and peace negotiations; calls for the EU to focus its efforts on supporting the negotiation process and backing the UN Secretary-General’s attempts to find diplomatic solutions;

11. Expresses deep concern over the Russian Government’s crackdown on the opposition and opponents to the war;

12. Expresses deep concern over the geopolitical tensions between NATO and the Russian Federation in the common eastern neighbourhood, which risks leading to a direct confrontation between them, with potentially disastrous consequences for Europe and the world; is concerned about NATO’s enlargement to the east; calls for an end to the spiral of confrontation and the arms race, and for a return to diplomacy; recalls that EU citizens oppose war with Russia;

13. Recalls that the reconstruction of Ukraine must be the highest priority and that Russia must contribute financially to the reconstruction; notes the importance of the reconstruction being based on the needs of the Ukrainian people, not on corporate profit interests; calls for the cancellation of Ukrainian debt in order to facilitate the reconstruction of the strategic and infrastructure enterprises destroyed in the war; supports calls for an international conference to be organised in due time to raise funds under the Ukraine Solidarity Trust Fund; stresses the need to prioritise the reconstruction of the facilities needed to ensure the safe return of Ukrainians who wish to return; calls for the speedy reintegration of Ukraine into European and global supply chains, in particular in the areas of energy and food supply;

14. Rejects the transformation of the EU into a militarised Union;

15. Highlights the recommendations of the High-Level Working Group on the Environmental Consequences of the War; believes that more attention should be given to the environmental consequences of wars, especially in times of intensifying global ecological crises; urges the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court to include ‘ecocide’ as a core international crime under the Rome Statute;

16. Supports the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); stresses the importance of preserving the integrity of infrastructure and ensuring easy access to nuclear sites for the IAEA’s mission;

17. Expresses solidarity with and support for the courageous people in Russia and Belarus protesting Putin’s invasion of Ukraine; strongly urges the Member States to protect and grant asylum to any Russians and Belarusians persecuted for speaking out against or protesting the war, as well as to Russian and Belarusian deserters and conscientious objectors; insists that EU protection and asylum must also be extended to Ukrainian deserters and conscientious objectors;

18. Expresses concern over the tendency to attack voices that oppose the delivery of weapons to Ukraine and raise critical questions about related EU policies; calls on the Member States to ensure that voices for peace and reconciliation are not silenced; supports the peace movement, which calls for an immediate end to the atrocities and for the opening of negotiations;

19. Takes note of the European Council’s decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine; stresses that there is no ‘fast track’ for EU membership, and that accession remains a complex, merit-based and structured process requiring the effective implementation of reforms and the transposition of the EU acquis; stresses the need to prepare the EU for further enlargement by reforming it;

20. Is deeply concerned that, according to the European Court of Auditors 2021 report on reducing grand corruption in Ukraine, grand corruption and state capture were still widespread in Ukraine despite EU action to address the issue as a cross-cutting priority, and that oligarchs and vested interests across Ukraine were the root cause of corruption and posed the main obstacle to the rule of law and economic development in the country; highlights that the June 2023 European Court of Auditors opinion on the Ukraine Facility echoed the report’s message about grand corruption and state capture in Ukraine and how these elements pose a systemic risk to the Ukraine Facility; calls on the Commission and the European External Action Service to develop a strategic document on preventing and combating grand corruption, including state capture, in Ukraine, in line with the recommendation of the European Court of Auditors; is deeply concerned that the provisions of the Ukraine Guarantee under Pillar II of the Ukraine Facility do not envisage any basis for excluding certain final recipients; calls on the Commission to revisit Article 30 in order to ensure that companies under oligarchic influence do not receive support;

21. Is deeply concerned about the interventions being made in Ukrainian labour law, recalling the importance of strong trade unions, good working conditions and a strong and functioning public sector as the foundation for a society to be well equipped against external challenges, such as war;

22. Considers that support for the Ukrainian economy cannot be provided at the expense of European farmers, at the cost of unfair competition; denounces the lifting of customs duties on agricultural products, in particular Ukrainian poultry; points out that these measures mainly benefit one of the giants of the Ukrainian sector, MHP, owned by Yuriy Kosyuk, thus reinforcing the country’s monopolies; points out that its owner has used letterbox companies in EU tax havens and uses two cutting companies, one based in the Netherlands and the other in Slovakia;

23. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the President, Government and Parliament of Ukraine, the President, Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation and the President, Government and Parliament of the Republic of Belarus.