As Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to bomb Ukraine despite ongoing diplomatic efforts, MEPs once again urge Europeans, on Tuesday 9 September, to strengthen their support for Kyiv.
“An unconditional ceasefire is a necessary condition for any serious peace negotiations! Until there is one, we must strengthen our (...) support for Ukraine”, stressed Michael Gahler (EPP, German), the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Ukraine.
“There is no peace on the horizon, because Putin does not want peace. (...) Therefore, our strategy must change. It is time for Europe not just to support, but to lead”, said Thijs Reuten (S&D, Dutch). In his view, the European strategy needs to change, with “more pressure, more weapons, stronger sanctions, real enforcement. And we must finally seize Russian assets“.
According to Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens/EFA, German), there will be no peace until there are guarantees of peace. “If we ensure a presence (on the ground) after peace, then it is a guarantee of peace and not a war effort”, he explained, adding that it was the EU’s responsibility to guarantee Ukraine’s security, but also in the United States’ interests for this to succeed.
“To stop Russia, we need to create a security and defence mechanism that is stronger than its militaristic ambitions. To dissuade the aggressor, Europe has no choice but to extend the European security system to Ukrainian territory and strengthen its defence forces”, stressed Petras Auštrevičius (Renew Europe, Lithuanian). In his view, safety guarantees will be effective if they are “real and sufficient”.
Kinga Gál (PfE, Hungarian), for her part, expressed concern about the presence of European troops on Ukrainian soil. “All these statements bring war closer to the EU, not peace for Ukrainians”, she warned.
“The only effective guarantee of security for Ukraine would be a return to neutrality. The EU claims to be working towards a ceasefire. But by demanding that EU and NATO Member States monitor it, the EU is only encouraging Russia to occupy even more Ukrainian territory”, added Hans Neuhoff (ESN, German).
Similarly, for Germany’s Özlem Demirel, speaking on behalf of The Left, saying, even before sitting down at the negotiating table, that the EU wants troops to be deployed in Ukraine is “simply untenable”. “That means you do not want peace”, she said.
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas pointed out that since the start of the conflict, Europeans had spent €169 billion to help Kyiv. In particular, she announced that the Europeans had now supplied 80% of the target delivery of 2 million munitions to Ukraine by 2025, aiming for “100% by October”.
The 19th package of sanctions is also due to be presented shortly. According to Ms Kallas, “international sanctions have already deprived Russia of $450 billion in funds, including $154 billion in oil revenues”. She hoped that by 2027, Europeans would no longer be importing Russian gas or oil.
Support for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. MEPs also gave their support to Ukraine’s EU accession process, recommending that ‘clusters’ of negotiating chapters be opened and calling on the Hungarian government to stop blocking the opening of the first ‘cluster’.
“The road to accession is a question of survival, sovereignty and long-term security for Ukraine and for Europe as a whole”, said Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, adding that accession was Ukraine’s greatest guarantee of security.
In the report by Michael Gahler that they adopted, MEPs praised the country’s “extraordinary” efforts to strengthen democratic institutions in wartime.
They encourage the government to intensify its reforms in the areas of Rule of law and public administration, justice and the fight against corruption. In particular, they reaffirm that the fight against corruption requires a long-term commitment and major efforts to establish good governance, based on a functional balance of power.
Progress in all these areas is essential not only for EU membership, but also for successful reconstruction and economic confidence, the European Parliament points out.
See the report: https://aeur.eu/f/ic4 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)