Brussels, 04/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 3 March, President of the European Economic and Social Committee Henri Malosse called for observers from civil society to be sent to Ukraine without delay, especially to the East and to Crimea, “to bring to fruition the commitment to dialogue”.
The EESC calls for Russian civil society and the Russian government to accept to dialogue in order to peacefully resolve the current tension. The EESC believes that in recent weeks, “compatibility between the process of rapprochement with the European Union and the maintenance of historic, economic and cultural ties with the Russian Federation has proved possible”. Malosse advocates adapting the partnership agreements and providing “a genuine European perspective to our neighbours”. He thinks that civil society can play a fundamental role in building a peaceful and balanced dialogue. European civil society has indeed already shown its ability in the past - for example, in Northern Ireland - to play an essential role in resolving of crises, says the EESC.
Malosse believes that the entry of the Russian army into Crimea can only be seen as “a de facto annexation of this region”. “We strongly condemn such a military intervention in Ukraine, which is an act of international banditry.” European civil society remains committed to the necessity for Ukraine to conduct real reforms to establish a rule of law, fight against existing corruption and strengthen the role of organised civil society, the EESC states. It reiterates the importance of European values, such as tolerance and the respect for the right of minorities to their cultural identity and their language. In this respect, the vote of the Ukrainian Parliament putting an end to the co-official status of other languages such as Hungarian, Polish or Russian is an unreasonable decision, which, in the EESC's opinion, “should be revised”.
The EESC asks for an immediate extraordinary European Council, to which the Ukrainian prime minister would be invited, “in order to formally mark the determination and commitment of Europe to stand beside the new government”. (LC)