Brussels, 26/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Sunday 25 January, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini called an extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council on Ukraine, to be held in Brussels on Thursday 29 January, “following the attack on Marioupol and the escalation in violence in Donbas”.
Latvia's foreign affairs minister, Edgars Rinkevics (whose country is currently holding the presidency of the Council of the EU), had called for a ministerial meeting to be held on 28 January. “We think the ministers will assess the developments and see how to respond”, said Maja Kocijancic, the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, on Monday 26 January.
Several member states, including Latvia and Lithuania, are reportedly in favour of further sanctions against Russia. “The sanctions on Russia must be stepped up”, said Lithuania's foreign minister, Linas Linkevicius, at an ECFR conference on 26 January. He also said on Twitter that he wanted more support for Ukraine “including military”. “The separatists attack on Marioupol breached the Minsk agreements. Russia is fully responsible to stop them. If not [there will be] more isolation and sanctions to come”, said Rinkevics. Other countries are said to be more reluctant, waiting to see how the situation develops in the coming hours.
On 26 January, European Commission Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis and US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew reiterated the importance of coordinating EU and US sanctions against Russia. “We must prepare more if Russia does not respect the Minsk agreements”, said Lew. “The escalation in violence shows that we must maintain this pressure [of restrictive measures] and work with Russia for respect of the Minsk agreements”, said Dombrovskis.
European Parliament for further sanctions. During an emergency debate organised on Monday, MEPs from the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee argued for new sanctions against Russia. “The high representative should present a package of sanctions to the ministers”, said Johannes Van Baalen (ALDE, the Netherlands). Some MEPs proposed suspending Russia's participation in the SWIFT system - the network for interbank transfers. “We must move from a sanctions regime to a boycott regime”, said Petras Austrevicius (ALDE, Lithuania), also highlighting sports boycotts.
Several MEPs also wanted the member states to provide military support to Ukraine. For Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (EPP, Poland), the people's republics of Lugansk and Donetsk should be considered as terrorist organisations.
Aggravation of EU-Russia relations. Since the weekend, Europeans have been calling on Russia to use its influence on the separatists. Several hours after the attacks in Marioupol that claimed at least 30 lives and left 80 wounded, Mogherini warned that a new escalation in violence “would inevitably lead to a further grave deterioration of relations between the EU and Russia”. She called “openly on Russia to use its considerable influence over separatist leaders and to stop any form of military, political or financial support”. “This would prevent disastrous consequences for all. Those responsible for the escalation must stop their hostile actions and live up to their commitments”, she added. Mogherini spoke to Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on the phone and to Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Condemning the firing on Marioupol “in the strongest possible terms”, European Parliament President Martin Schulz called on Russia “to use its considerable influence to slow down and stop the activities of these belligerent forces, to stop the flow of weapons, money, personnel and information for the rebels, to close the border, and to sit around the negotiating table in a serious and honest spirit”.
The tone was even stronger on the side of European Council President Donald Tusk. “Once again, appeasement encourages the aggressor to greater acts of violence”, he said, adding on Twitter that “it is time to step up our policy based on cold facts, not illusions”.
It should be noted that Lavrov announced that Russia was going to facilitate contact between Kiev and the pro-Russian rebels in the coming days. (CG and MD)