Brussels, 12/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 11 May, EU28 foreign ministers issued sanctions against thirteen individuals and, for the first time, two companies in connection with the Ukrainian crisis. They also extended the legal basis for EU sanctions against action that jeopardises or endangers the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, providing the Council of the EU with the option of issuing sanctions against people connected with action or measures that threaten stability or security in Ukraine or who hinder the work of international organisations in the country, in addition to bodies connected with said individuals. The ministers provided a legal basis for issuing sanctions against bodies, freezing the assets of organisations in Crimea and Sebastopol which have committed acts of confiscation or bodies that have benefited from said confiscation.
Black list. The thirteen new individuals will be added to the 48 already on the EU's visa ban and freezing of assets in the EU. The two organisations have had their assets frozen. The legislation for this was published in the EU Official Journal on 12 May and comes into immediate effect. As we were going to press, the legal documents had not yet been made public.
Pointing out that the European Commission and member states' preparatory work was still under way on possible target phase 3 measures requested by the European Council in March, the ministers said that the EU would pay particular attention to the attitude and behaviour of all parties over the holding of free and fair presidential elections and decision on potential measures. But the foreign minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, said that nothing would be automatic. The ministers said the 25 May 2014 elections are important and should be free and fair. They called on all sides to support the elections and do everything necessary to ensure the elections take place in good conditions, as French Foreign Minister Harlem Désir put it. Asselborn said the right thing to do was to ensure up until the 25th that the stops are pulled out to make sure the elections can take place. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that the election results would be examined by EU heads of state over dinner on 27 May.
The ministers took note of an OSCE roadmap unveiled in Brussels by the OSCE president-in-office, Didier Burkhalter (of Switzerland) and fully backed the work done to ensure a de-escalation and stabilisation of the situation. The roadmap is four-pronged - non-violence; disarmament; dialogue; and elections. The principal problem is time, warned Burkhalter, because there is no time to waste. The EU once again called for implementation of the Geneva agreement and supported the convening of a rapid meeting at ministerial level using the Geneva formal to ensure full implementation of the Geneva statement.
The European Union urged all parties to refrain from violence, and called for an end to all violence and provocation. The ministers encouraged the Ukrainian government to maintain their measured approach to law and order and called on all parties to the conflict to do more to reduce tension. Asselborn said that Kiev has to use violence only as defence and never on the attack. The EU called for an investigation into the Odessa tragedy of 2 May and for those responsible to be brought to justice.
The ministers said their main concern was the continuation of efforts by pro-Russian separatists to destabilise eastern and southern Ukraine. They described the seizure of public buildings, kidnappings, murders and violation of freedom of the media by illegal armed groups as unacceptable and said it must stop. The EU will not recognise the results of the 11 May referendum organised by the separatists and will not recognise any such referendum in the future because the ministers said they are “illegitimate and illegal”. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that such referendums had zero credibility and failed to meet any criteria for legality, be it objectivity, transparency or justice. Burkhalter said that Russia has not formally recognised the outcome of the referendums, explaining that it has expressed respect, but not recognition, for the referendums. It is important to note, he said, that this does not amount to recognition of the results.
The foreign ministers said they wanted to help Ukraine to reform its civil security forces and called on the EU's diplomatic corps to prepare a crisis management concept for a “possible” common security and defence policy (CSDP) mission by the EU. The ministers added that they would take “further steps” at their next meeting. (CG)