The plenary session of the European Parliament approved this Wednesday a resolution that qualifies Russia as a “country promoter of terrorism” as a result of the war against Ukraine, and asked the 27 countries of the bloc to accompany this recognition
Text: RFI / AFP
The resolution, adopted by 494 votes in favor, with 58 against and 44 abstentions, also identifies Russia as “a state that uses terrorist means.”
According to the Resolution, “the atrocities carried out by the Russian Federation against the Ukrainian civilian population, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and other serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law constitute acts of terror.”
They also constitute “war crimes,” the document noted.
The Resolution called on the European Union (EU) and its member countries to “develop a Union legal framework for the designation of States as promoters of terrorism and States that use terrorist means.”
Such a legal framework would trigger “significant restrictive measures” against designated countries.
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It also called on the European Council “to consider adding the Russian Federation to such a list next”, and called on the EU’s partners to take similar steps.
Moments after the vote in Strasbourg, the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, welcomed the decision of the MEPs.
“Russia must be isolated at all levels and be held accountable to end its old policy of terrorism in Ukraine and around the globe,” he said on a social network.
The Ukrainian government has insisted on its call to the international community for this declaration of Russia as a “promoting terrorism” state, although the EU lacks a legal framework that allows this designation.
Conservative Lithuanian Euro-legislator Andrius Kubilius, the main promoter of the resolution, said on Wednesday that Russia “is not just a state that promotes terrorism, but also uses terrorism.”
For this reason, he pointed out, this statement “sends a strong signal. Europe and the Europeans cannot remain passive when our neighbor violates all international and humanitarian standards.”
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