The European Parliament has condemned in a resolution Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

With an overwhelming majority (637 votes in favor, 13 against and 26 abstentions), the European Parliament today passed a resolution condemning Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and urging the Kremlin to end all military activity in the country. At the same time, it calls for Ukraine to be granted EU candidate status.

The European Parliament “unequivocally condemns the illegal, unprovoked and unjustified military attack and Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as the involvement of Belarus in this attack”. It also calls on Russia to immediately suspend all military operations in Ukraine and to withdraw all military forces unconditionally from all of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory, and to fully respect its territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.

MEPs welcome the EU’s swift approval of sanctions, but called for further restrictive measures to strategically weaken Russia’s economy and industrial base.

In particular, they stress that imports of key Russian exports, such as oil and gas, should be curtailed. Any new EU investment in Russia should be banned, and vice versa. All Russian banks should be eliminated from the European financial system and Russia should be excluded from the SWIFT system.

Due to its direct support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Belarus will also have to face a series of sanctions, including its exclusion from the SWIFT system.

MEPs are calling for swift sanctions against those responsible for the rampant corruption in Russia and Belarus, as well as against oligarchs and officials close to the two countries’ leaderships.

MEPs categorically reject Russia’s “rhetoric alluding to the possible use of weapons of mass destruction”. At the same time, they remind Russia of its obligations to the international community and warn of the dangers of a nuclear escalation of the conflict.

MEPs point out that Russia should be brought back to the negotiating table, recalling that the OSCE remains the first way out for a peaceful settlement of disputes in the region. They also called for the use of the United Nations resolution on crisis mechanisms, and called on the EU and its member states and the United States to continue their diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

At the same time, the European Parliament expresses its full support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people and calls on the EU institutions to work towards granting Ukraine the status of a candidate country for EU membership. It is pointed out, in particular, that the relevant procedure must be compatible with Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and be based on the country ‘s progress. In the meantime, the EU should continue to work for Ukraine’s integration into the European single market, in line with the provisions of the existing EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

MEPs, on the other hand, call on EU candidate countries to align with the EU’s common foreign and security policy. They deeply regret Serbia’s non-alignment with EU sanctions against Russia. , which undermines its EU accession process.

In addition, the resolution calls on Member States to provide Ukraine with faster defense weapons, in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, which allows for individual and collective legal defense. The resolution also urges the EU to work more closely with Ukraine on intelligence services on the ongoing attack.

The European Parliament welcomes the EU’s commitment to implementing the “Temporary Protection Directive”, according to which all Ukrainians trying to escape the war will have immediate access to international protection. Responsibility for receiving refugees arriving at the EU’s external borders should be shared equally between Member States.

MEPs also call on the European Commission and the Member States to provide further urgent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in cooperation with the UN humanitarian agencies and other international partner organizations.