Brussels, 17/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 17 March, the EU Foreign Affairs Council decided to freeze the assets in the EU and issue a visa ban on 21 people (13 Russians and 8 Crimeans) considered responsible for actions that damage or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, including action on the future status of any part of the territory that is contrary to Ukraine's constitution, along with people and bodies connected with said individuals. The measures were published in the EU Official Journal on 17 March and will apply for a renewable six months. Among the Crimeans listed are the “prime minister of Crimea”, Sergey Valeryevich Aksyonov, the president of the Crimean supreme council, Vladimir Andreevich Konstantinov, the vice-chair of the Crimean cabinet, Rustam Ilmirovich Temirgaliev, the former commander of the Ukrainian navy, Deniz Valentinovich Berezovskiy, and the vice-president of the Verkhovna Rada Sergey Pavlovych Tsekov. Three Russian military leaders are on the list - vice-admiral Aleksandr Viktorovich Vitko, the commander of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, the commander of the Western Russian military district, Anatoliy Alekseevich Sidorov, and the head of Russia's strategic operational Southern command, Commander Aleksandr Galkin. Ten parliamentarians, including the deputy presidents of the Council of the Federation, Evgeni Viktorovich Bushmin, and the deputy speaker of the Duma, Sergei Vladimirovich Zheleznyak, and also on the list.
Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, said the list did not include anyone with important links with the economy or the Kremlin inner circle. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that the EU wanted to be firm about an unacceptable Russian decision and, at the same time, leave the door open for dialogue to prevent escalation. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski hoped this would convince the EU's Russian partners that the situation is serious. The decision had been taken in the light of last week's events and the lack of dialogue between Russia and the Ukraine that could have led to a positive outcome, as was stated in the conclusions document of the special EU summit of 6 March. Sikorski said that the European summit might extend the list on 20-21 March.
Diplomats report that ministers wanted to cancel the June EU-Russia summit in Sochi, but that the final decision on this was for the heads of state to take.
In a conclusions document, the foregn ministers firmly condemned the holding of an “illegal referendum in the Crimea” on 16 March “in flagrant violation of the Ukrainian constitution”, adding that the EU would not recognise the illegal referendum or its outcome. They regretted the visible presence of armed Russian soldiers who were intimidating activists and citizen reporters, blocking civilian circulation inside and outside the Crimea, the clear signs of a build-up of Russian troops in the Crimea and the refusal to let representatives of the UN and OSCE, or their observer missions, into the Crimea. The document notes that all these elements are in flagrant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Asselborn was very pessimistic, saying that the referendum question was very serious and borders have been changed 70 years after the Second World War. He said that, without military intervention, which nobody wants, it was difficult to say whether Crimea's status would remain the same as before the referendum. He said that economic and diplomatic sanctions would not change the status of Crimea and they were not going to restore the status quo, but did not actually say that Crimea was now in the hands of Russia. Sikorski said this was the Anschluss of Crimea.
The ministers urged Moscow to not take any measures to annex Crimea in violation of international law. In the morning of Monday 17 March, Crimea's parliament unanimously voted (85 parliamentarians were present) that the Crimean peninsula should join Russia. In the referendum on Sunday, 97% of voters called for Crimea to join Russia. The EU Council of Ministers quoted the 6 March conclusions document, stating that other measures taken by Russia to destabilise the situation in Ukraine would have further, large-scale consequences for relations across a wide range of economic domains between the EU (and its member states) and Russia.
The EU foreign ministers state that there is still time to reverse the current trend and there are options for avoiding a vicious circle. They say the EU is ready to enter constructive dialogue with all parties. The EU invites Russia to take measures to de-escalate the crisis, immediately withdraw her forces, enter direct talks with the government of Ukraine and make use of all relevant international mechanisms to find a peaceful, negotiated, solution. The ministers praise Ukraine for its measured response.
The ministers also called for an OSCE mission. Believing that there is an urgent need for an international presence on the ground across Ukraine and also in Crimea, the Council supports the rapid deployment of a special OSCE monitoring mission in Ukraine. According to Asselborn, Russia has given its agreement for 700 to 1,000 unarmed observers to be sent to all regions of Ukraine.
Signature of association agreement political chapters on Friday 21 March. Elsewhere, the ministers announced the signature - on the sidelines of the European Council on Friday 21 March - of the political chapters of the association agreement with Ukraine. The Council therefore “looks forward to the signature of the political arrangements of the association agreement in Brussels on 21 March, and confirms its commitment to proceeding to the signature and conclusion of other parts of the agreement” (our translation). It hails the rapid adoption of the Commission's proposal to remove customs duties temporarily from Ukrainian exports to the EU. The ministers again called on the Ukrainian government urgently to launch an ambitious package of structural reforms and to implement an inclusive process, to continue its efforts to ensure free and fair elections and to make the constitutional reform progress. These reforms must also ensure the full protection of minority rights.
American sanctions. The US has decided to freeze the assets of 11 Russian and Ukrainian leaders, including Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the president of the Council of the Federation, Valentina Matvienko, and two advisers close to Russia's President Vladimir Putin. The prime minister of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, the president of the parliament of Crimea, Vladimir Konstantinov, and the ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, have also been made subject to sanctions. (CG)