http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=P8-RC-2014-0118&language=ENThe European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the European Neighbourhood Policy, on the Eastern Partnership (EaP) and on Ukraine, with particular reference to its resolution of 17 July 2014 on Ukraine(1),
– having regard to the Foreign Affairs Council conclusions of 22 July and 15 August and of the European Council conclusions of 30 August 2014 on Ukraine,
– having regard to the statement by the EEAS spokesperson of 11 September 2014 on the abduction of the Estonian police officer,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the European Neighbourhood Policy, on the Eastern Partnership (EaP) and on Ukraine, with particular reference to those of 27 February 2014 on the situation in Ukraine(2), 13 March 2014 on Ukraine’s invasion by Russia(3), 17 April 2014 on Russian pressure on Eastern Partnership countries and in particular the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine(4), and 17 July 2014 on the situation in Ukraine(5),
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Russia, with particular reference to its resolution of 6 February 2014 on the EU-Russia summit(6),
– having regard to the Wales NATO Summit Declaration of 5 September 2014,
– having regard to the outcome of the extraordinary meeting of the European Agriculture Council of 5 September 2014,
– having regard to the Joint Ministerial Statement on the Implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement / Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (AA/DCFTA) of 12 September 2014,
– having regard to Rule 123(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,A. whereas the summer of 2014 was marked by further escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine; whereas,
according to UN estimates, at least 3 000 people have lost their lives and many more thousands have been injured, while hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled the conflict areas; whereas the economic costs of the conflict, including the cost of rebuilding the eastern regions, are of serious concern for the social and economic development of Ukraine;
B. whereas the Trilateral Contact Group agreed on 5 September in Minsk on a ceasefire which entered into force the same day; whereas the agreement also contained a 12-point protocol which covers the release of hostages, measures to improve the humanitarian situation, the withdrawal of all illegal armed groups, military equipment and mercenaries from Ukraine and measures on decentralisation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions;
C. whereas the ceasefire has been persistently violated by, mainly, regular Russian troops and separatists since Friday, 5 September in areas near Mariupol and Donetsk airport, with attempts to probe Ukraine’s defences in several other localities;
D. whereas in the previous weeks Russia increased its military presence on the territory of Ukraine and logistical support of the separatist militias through a steady flow of weapons, ammunition, armoured vehicles and equipment, mercenaries and soldiers in disguise, in spite of the EU’s calls to make every effort to de-escalate the situation; whereas since the beginning of the crisis the Russian Federation has amassed troops and military hardware on the border with Ukraine;
E. whereas Russia’s direct and indirect military intervention in Ukraine, including the annexation of Crimea, violates international law including the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the 1994 Budapest Agreement; whereas Russia continues to refuse the implementation of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE);
F. whereas the European Council of 30 August requested proposals to enhance the EU’s restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions in destabilising eastern Ukraine; whereas these proposals came into force on 12 September;
G. whereas after the signing on 21 March 2014 of the political provisions of the Association Agreement (AA), on 27 June 2014 the EU and Ukraine officially signed the remaining part of this Agreement, which includes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA); whereas the European Parliament and the Verkhovna Rada have simultaneously ratified the Association Agreement; whereas on 12 September the Commission announced that the provisional application of the DCFTA would be postponed until 31 December 2015; whereas this will result in a prolongation of the unilateral trade preferences granted by the EU to Ukraine, which were to expire on 1 November this year;
H. whereas on 7 August the Russian Government adopted a list of products from the EU, US, Norway, Canada and Australia to be banned from the Russian market for a period of one year; whereas the EU will be affected the most as Russia is the second-largest export market for EU agricultural products and the sixth-largest for fishery products and 73 % of the banned imports come from the EU; whereas the overall restrictions currently applied by Russia could jeopardise EUR 5 billion worth of trade and affect the incomes of 9.5 million people in the EU working on the agricultural holdings most concerned;
I. whereas the ban on EU food products to the Russian market that has hit the fruit and vegetable sector in particular, as well as the dairy and meat sectors, could have a possible knock-on effect leading to over-supply in the internal market, while the ban on EU fisheries products to the Russian market could potentially pose severe problems in some Member States; whereas the value of banned fisheries products amounts to almost EUR 144 million;
J. whereas Russia undermines EU security by regularly violating the airspace of Finland, the Baltic States and Ukraine, as well as by the recent gas cut to Poland, which amounts to 45 % of Russian exports to that country;
K. whereas the NATO summit in Newport reaffirmed that NATO stands with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s destabilising influence, offered support in strengthening the Ukrainian armed forces and called on Russia to pull back its troops from Ukraine and end the illegal annexation of Crimea;
L. whereas the tragic downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in the Donetsk region provoked outrage in international and European public opinion; whereas the UN and the EU demanded a thorough international investigation of the circumstances of the accident, and whereas the bringing to justice of those responsible is a moral and legal obligation;
1.
Welcomes the signing of the Minsk ceasefire agreement and calls on all sides to make every effort to implement it in full and in good faith with a view to paving the way for the start of a genuine peace process, including permanent and effective control of the Ukrainian border verified by the OSCE, the full and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops, illegal armed groups, military equipment and mercenaries from the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine and the release of hostages; deplores the fact that the ceasefire agreement is being persistently violated by, mainly, Russian troops and separatist forces, and that their ongoing build-up continues;
2. Calls on all sides to respect the ceasefire and to refrain from any action or moves which would jeopardise the agreement; expresses its strong concern, however, that the ceasefire is a pretext for Russian troops to regroup in order to continue their offensive towards establishing a ‘land corridor’ to Crimea and beyond to Transnistria;
3.
Strongly condemns the Russian Federation for waging an undeclared ‘hybrid war’ against Ukraine with use of regular Russian forces and supporting illegally armed groups; underlines the fact that these actions by the Russian leadership constitute a threat not only to the unity and independence of Ukraine, but to the whole European continent; calls on Russia immediately to withdraw all its military assets and forces from Ukraine, to prohibit the flows of fighters and weapons into eastern Ukraine, and to end support, direct or indirect, for the actions of the separatist forces on Ukrainian soil;
4.
Reiterates its commitment to the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders of Ukraine, and its right to make a European choice; reiterates that the
international community will not recognise the illegal annexing of Crimea and Sevastopol or the attempts at creating quasi-republics in Donbas; welcomes the EU decision to prohibit imports originating from Crimea unless accompanied by a certificate of origin from the Ukrainian authorities; condemns, furthermore, the enforced ‘passportisation’ of Ukrainian citizens in Crimea, the persecution of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, and the threats made by the self-proclaimed leaders against Crimean citizens who expressed their interest in voting in the upcoming parliamentary elections;
5. Underlines that the OSCE plays a crucial role in resolving the Ukrainian crisis due to its experience in dealing with armed conflict and crises and the fact that both the Russian Federation and Ukraine are members of this organisation; calls on the Member States, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Commission to make every effort in order to strengthen and increase the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine both in terms of experienced personnel and in terms of logistics and equipment; emphasises the need to deploy without any further delay the OSCE monitors all along the parts of the Ukrainian-Russian border currently under the control of the separatists;
6. Emphasises that the reform and Association agenda must proceed in parallel with the continued struggle to ensure Ukraine’s territorial integrity and unity; reiterates that these two tasks are inextricably and synergistically intertwined; stresses the need for peaceful dialogue and decentralisation which still ensures that authority over the whole territory remains with the central government, thus guaranteeing Ukraine’s unity; underlines the need for confidence-building between various communities in society and calls for a sustainable reconciliation process; in this context, emphasises the importance of establishing an inclusive national dialogue, avoiding propaganda, hate speech and rhetoric, which may further aggravate the conflict; emphasises that an inclusive dialogue such as this should involve civil society organisations and citizens from all the regions and minorities;
7.
Welcomes the simultaneous ratification of the AA/DCFTA by the Verkhovna Rada and the European Parliament; considers this an important step which shows the commitment of both sides to successful implementation; takes note of the eventual postponement of the provisional implementation of the EU-Ukraine DCFTA until 31 December 2015, to be replaced by the prolongation of unilateral trade measures which represent a de facto asymmetrical implementation of the agreement; deplores the extraordinary measures and level of pressure exerted by Russia; states that the agreement cannot and will not be changed and that this has been made very clear by the European Union through this ratification; calls on the Member States to swiftly proceed with the ratification of the AA/DCFTA with Ukraine; takes note of the ongoing consultation between Ukraine, Russia and the EU on the implementation of the AA/DCFTA with Ukraine and hopes that it will help solve any misunderstandings;
8. Stresses that the coming months until implementation of the AA/DCFTA should be used to tackle the necessary transformation and modernisation of Ukraine’s political system and its economy and society in accordance with the Association agenda; welcomes the reform programme announced by President Poroshenko, which includes laws on anti-corruption, decentralisation and amnesty; calls on the Commission and on the EEAS to urgently draw up a comprehensive and ambitious financial assistance and aid package for Ukraine and in particular for the people in eastern Ukraine, to support the work on a political solution and on national reconciliation;
9.
Notes the laws on special status for some districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and on amnesty adopted by Verkhovna Rada on 16 September as an important contribution to de‑escalation within the implementation of the President of Ukraine’s Peace Plan;
10. Supports the restrictive measures the EU adopted against Russia during the summer as a result of Russia’s continued aggression, and notes their enforcement on 12 September 2014; is of the opinion that any sanctions should be designed in a way which would not allow Kremlin-linked companies to circumvent them; calls for the EU to closely monitor such forms of economic cooperation as equity swaps and joint ventures;
11. Calls on the Member States and the EEAS to adopt a clear set of benchmarks which, when achieved, could prevent adoption of the new restrictive measures against Russia or lead to the lifting of the previous ones; believes these benchmarks should include:
complete withdrawal of Russian troops and mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine; ending the supply of arms and equipment to terrorists; full respect for the ceasefire regime by Russia; establishment of effective international control and verification of the ceasefire regime; and the restoration of Ukraine’s control over its entire territory ; calls on the Council and the Member States not to consider lifting any sanction before these conditions are met and to remain ready to impose further sanctions for any actions undertaken by Russia to undermine the ceasefire agreement or to further escalate the tensions in Ukraine;
12. Recalls that the restrictive measures taken by the EU are directly linked to the Russian Federation’s violation of international law with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine, while the trade measures taken by the Russian Federation, including those against Ukraine and other Eastern Partnership countries which have recently concluded Association Agreements with the EU, are unjustified; calls for the EU to consider excluding Russia from civil nuclear cooperation and the Swift system;
13. Calls on the Commission to follow closely the impact of the Russian so-called ‘counter-sanctions’ and to take swift measures to support producers that are hit by the Russian trade restrictions; welcomes the measures adopted by the EU Agriculture Council of 5 September, and urges the Commission to explore ways of enabling the EU to cope better with similar crises in the future and to do its utmost to support in a substantial and timely manner the European producers affected; regrets the suspension of the emergency market measures for perishable fruit and vegetable markets, but condemns any abuse of the support; calls on the Commission to present a new scheme as soon as possible;
14. Calls on the Commission to closely monitor the agricultural, food, fish and aquaculture markets, to inform the Council and the European Parliament of any changes and to assess the impact of the measures taken in order possibly to extend the list of products covered and to increase the EUR 125 million budget; urges the Commission not to restrict itself to market measures but to also take medium-term measures in order to strengthen the EU’s presence on third-country markets (e.g. promotional activities);