MEPs reiterated their support for Ukraine on Thursday, 16 February—just days before the first anniversary of when Russia invaded the country on 24 February 2022.
In the joint resolution they adopted (444 votes in favour, 26 against, and 37 abstentions), MEPs stress the need to provide Ukraine with humanitarian aid and call for increased military support.
The European Parliament calls for serious consideration to be given to supplying Ukraine with Western fighter jets, helicopters, and appropriate missile systems as well as substantially increasing munitions deliveries.
During a press seminar organised by the European Parliament on Thursday, 16 February, Ukrainian Ambassador to the EU Vsevolod Chentsov supported Estonia’s idea of having an additional and separate financial instrument in order to speed up the production of ammunition. He specified that the goal would be to produce one million rounds of 155-calibre ammunition in 6 months. “[W]e need huge resources to achieve this goal: [...] a few billion euro[s]”, he explained, hoping that the initiative would be supported during the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council on 20 February.
In their resolution, MEPs call for the 10th package of sanctions against Russia to be adopted by the end of February and for its scope to be broadened substantially. The European Parliament also urges the EU, Member States, and their allies to strengthen the effectiveness of the sanctions already being imposed, to take urgent steps to block any attempt to circumvent them, and to develop a secondary sanctions mechanism that would eliminate any loopholes.
In addition, MEPs are calling for the legal regime allowing the confiscation of Russian assets that have been frozen by the EU to be completed—adding that once the war is over, Russia must be obliged to pay the reparations that will be imposed on it so as to ensure that it makes a substantial contribution to the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Moreover, the European Parliament warns, “the outcome of the war and the stance taken by the international community will play a crucial role in affecting future action by other authoritarian regimes, which are closely observing the course of the war”. In the European Parliament’s opinion, the EU and Member States must continue to work with international partners as “closely and intensely as possible” to strengthen the international community’s unity in condemning and countering Russia’s war of aggression and in establishing accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. The United Nations is expected to vote on a resolution on the war in Ukraine next week—the aim being to make [the resolution] as ambitious as possible while garnering as much support as possible.
Finally, the European Parliament urges Ukraine, the European Commission, and the [EU] Council to work towards opening accession negotiations this year while stressing that accession to the EU remains a merit-based process, which requires the adoption and implementation of relevant reforms.
See the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/5d0 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)