On Wednesday 21 September any European politicians strongly condemned the mobilisation of 300,000 reservists by Russian President Vladimir Putin to reinforce the ranks of the Russian army engaged in the invasion of Ukraine.
“The Kremlin is announcing a mobilisation on the International Day of Peace while at UNGA countries work for cooperation, security and prosperity. In this war, there is only one aggressor, Russia, and one aggressed country, Ukraine. EU’s support to Ukraine will remain steadfast”, said European Council President Charles Michel via Twitter.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, whose country holds the rotating Presidency of the EU Council, denounced “a new attempt to escalate the war launched by Russia in Ukraine”. For the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, this is an “act of desperation” by the Russian President, after the setbacks suffered by his army in the Kharkiv region.
In a joint statement, British Prime Minister Liz Truss and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Putin’s call for action “a sign of the failure of the Russian invasion” and “a statement of weakness”.
Latvia’s foreign minister said it would not issue humanitarian visas to Russian citizens trying to flee their country to escape the military mobilisation, nor would it change the border crossing restrictions for Russians holding Schengen visas, which it introduced on Monday.
Illegal referendums. The day before, in New York, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, had pointed out the illegality of the referendums held from 23 to 27 September on the attachment to Russia of the Ukrainian territories - Luhansk, Kherson and Donetsk - militarily occupied by Moscow. These consultations “are in violation of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and in blatant breach of international law”, he said in a statement. He warned that the EU would consider these referendums “null and void” as the results did not “in any way” reflect the free will of the population of the territories concerned.
In the European Parliament, the chairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, David McAllister (EPP, German) and the EU/Ukraine Parliamentary delegation, Witold Waszczykowski (ECR, Polish), as well as the rapporteur on Ukraine, Michael Gahler (EPP, German), joined in the condemnation and expressed their “deep concern” about the announcement of the partial mobilisation.
The EU has already adopted sanctions against pro-Russian officials involved in holding similar popular consultations in forcibly annexed territories such as Crimea. Are new sanctions to be expected?
European External Action Service spokesman Peter Stano said the EU was discussing a European response “in all these aspects”. On the military front in particular, the granting of a sixth tranche of the European Peace Facility is under discussion between the Member States.
“Whatever the outcome of these referenda, these territories will remain Ukrainian. Ukraine has any right to make anything possible within the limits of international law to restore the control of the Ukrainian state”, Mr Stano continued.
The same is true of the Council of Europe. In a statement, its Secretary General, Marija Pejčinović Burić, saw these “pseudo-referendums” as “a further escalation of the conflict and the continued violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity”. “Held at gunpoint by the occupying forces and in defiance of basic democratic principles”, they “can neither be accepted nor recognised”, she added.
Ms Pejčinović Burić noted that in 2014, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission had stressed that the situation in Crimea “did not allow for a referendum in line with democratic standards”, “conclusions that remain valid today for all occupied territories”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion, with Véronique Leblanc)