Just as the European External Action Service (EEAS) had previously done (see EUROPE 12242/2), on Friday 26, April, Michael Gahler (EPP, Germany), the European Parliament rapporteur on Ukraine, Rebecca Harms (Greens/EFA, Germany), the chair of the European Parliament delegation to the EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly, and Dariusz Rosati (EPP, Poland), the chair of the European Parliament delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, condemned the signing of a Russian decree providing people permanently resident in certain areas of the Donetsk and Lougansk regions in Ukraine with a simplified process for requesting Russian citizenship.
In a joint statement, they described the decree as unacceptable. In their view, the decree “demonstrates, once again, the Russian authorities’ lack of respect for the sovereignty of Ukraine and international law” and shows Russia's “continuous intentions to destabilise Ukraine, only three days” after the presidential election in Ukraine.
“This decree follows the Russian trend of issuing passports in areas with protracted conflicts in Eastern Partnership countries that are not under the control of their national governments, thereby deepening tensions in these regions. Unequivocally, the decree further weakens the expectations of the international community that the Minsk agreements should be fully implemented”, they warned.
The previous day, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom - current members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) -, and Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden, outgoing members of the Security Council, had also denounced this decree, taking up the EEAS's criticisms in a joint statement and noting that these regions, like the entire Donbass, were “an integral part of Ukrainian territory”.
“Making it easier for the Ukrainian citizens living there to acquire Russian citizenship runs contrary to the aims and spirit of the Minsk agreements”, they warned. The Member States called on Russia to refrain from any action that would undermine the implementation of these agreements and prevent the Ukrainian government from fully restoring control over these areas, and to end its financial and military support for the separatists.
The Security Council - of which Russia is a member - must remain seized of the matter, “as these violations of international law are a global concern”, they added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)