On Tuesday 17 September, MEPs supported the need for peace in Ukraine, but were divided on the means to achieve it. While representatives of the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and ECR called for the continuation and even reinforcement of military aid, those of The Left, PfE and ESN emphasised diplomacy.
“We must show our determination to do everything necessary for Ukraine to win”, summed up Michael Gahler (EPP, German). He called for all restrictions to be lifted on the use of European weapons on Russian territory. “Faced with Russia’s determination to destroy its infrastructure, we won’t be able to supply as many ‘Patriots’ and defence systems as needed for total coverage of Ukraine. It’s clearly better to attack from the pitcher’s side than to work on defence”, he added.
“The EU, the Member States and our partners, including NATO, must renew and even step up their efforts”, added Adam Bielan (Polish) on behalf of the ECR.
On behalf of Renew Europe and S&D respectively, Austria’s Helmut Brandstätter and Greece’s Yannis Maniatis stressed the need to help Ukraine with military support and humanitarian aid. “Hungary, which holds the presidency of the EU Council, cannot be allowed to undermine military support”, said Mr Maniatis, adding that the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, should not travel to Moscow and should allow payments to be made by the ‘European Peace Facility’.
For his part, Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens/EFA, German) called for Ukraine’s inclusion in the EU’s defence programme “so that Ukraine cannot be confronted with new attacks“.
But the political groups on the far right and left of the chamber, for their part, emphasised diplomacy. For Tamás Deutsch (PfE, Hungarian), “the (European) strategy has failed, European leaders are mired in the war as if it were the EU’s war. We must get out of this position, we’ve paid a lot of money to Ukraine without putting an end to the war”. In his opinion, making room for a different way of thinking is needed, “to restart the dialogue between the parties. Diplomatic relations and a ceasefire should be put in place”.
The same holds true for ESN. “To believe that Ukraine could win militarily is utopian and leads not to peace, but to escalation”, said Germany’s Hans Neuhoff. He added that “diplomacy and negotiations” were needed, welcoming Mr Orbán’s initiative.
“More arms and ammunition will not bring the war to an end. War means death, suffering and devastation, the solution doesn’t lie on the battlefield. On the contrary”, argued his compatriot from The Left, Özlem Demirel, adding that it was necessary to pursue “a policy of détente, of peace”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)