Changes between two versions
What changed between the resolution motion joint and the adopted text
From · resolution motion joint· 28 Feb 2024
on the need for unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine
To · adopted text· 29 Feb 2024
The need for unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine
+6 added · −2 removed · 8 changed paragraphs, packaging included.
Part 2 of 2: Paragraphs 61–88
17. Expresses horror at the fact that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has resulted in one of the fastest growing large-scale displacements of children since the Second World War; recalls that, as a result of the massive targeting of civilian infrastructure, Ukrainian children are severely deprived of access to basic services, such as education and healthcare, in particular mental health support;
18. Reiterates that the continued forced relocation and deportation of Ukrainian children, including those from institutions, to Russia and Belarus and their forced adoption by Russian families is in breach of Ukrainian and international law; underlines that forcibly transferring children of a group to another group constitutes the crime of genocide, according to Article II of the Genocide Convention; demands that the Russian and Belarusian authorities ensure the immediate return of all Ukrainian children; praises the efforts of local Ukrainian organisations that, on a case-by-case basis, support parents and families in searching for their children and fighting for their safe return;
19. Reiterates its condemnation of the forcible deportation of Ukrainian civilians to Russia, territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by Russia, and Belarus; calls on all states and international organisations to press Russia to return all forcibly deported and illegally imprisoned Ukrainian civilians, especially children, including the remains of all those who died in captivity; urges the EU and its Member States to intensify the search for mechanisms to facilitate the release of Ukrainian civilians illegally detained by Russia, including through UN mechanisms;
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Added:20. Regrets the fact that the Temporary Protection Directive is interpreted so narrowly that many women who have fled Russia’s war of aggression cannot access abortion care or other sexual and reproductive health treatments, including treatments following sexual abuse; is appalled by the fact that, as a consequence, many women have been forced to return to war-torn Ukraine to access sexual and reproductive health and rights services and reproductive care; calls on the Commission to review the directive in order to ensure that all Member States are obliged to offer the same care that women could otherwise receive in Ukraine;
21. Condemns Russia’s intention to conduct presidential elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine on 15-17 March 2024 and underlines that it will not recognise the results of these illegal elections;
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Changed:21.22. Reiterates its call for innovative, complementary and flexible interaction between the ongoing work on the implementation of the Association Agreement currently in force and the accession negotiation process, thus allowing for Ukraine’s gradual integration into the EU single market and sectoral programmes, including access to EU funds in the respective areas, so that Ukrainians can reap the benefits of accession throughout the process and not only upon its completion; welcomes Ukraine’s successful actions that re-opened the Black Sea route for Ukrainian grain to reach its traditional markets; calls on the relevant international stakeholders to permanently secure these achievements and the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea for commercial purposes; supports the Commission proposal to renew the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the EU; urges the Commission to address any reports of market disruption caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the trade benefits conceded to Ukraine; calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the reasons for any unilateral actions, such as border blockades, that would limit Ukraine’s access to the EU single market;market, to establish effective measures to monitor the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products and to introduce measures to mitigate the effects on European farmers, whose reasonable protests and demands are also being exploited and targeted by Russian disinformation; calls for the EU. its Member States, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and other players to show greater solidarity and stabilise the grain market; calls for the EU and its Member States to halt the import and transit through EU territory of Russian grain and of grain stolen from Ukraine;
5 unchanged paragraphs
23. Underlines that the Russian war of aggression has fundamentally changed the geopolitical situation in Europe and beyond, and threatens its security architecture, and that the response to this necessitates bold, brave and comprehensive political, security and financial decisions by the EU;
24. Welcomes the European Council’s decision to open accession negotiations with Ukraine once the Commission’s recommendations are met; believes that Ukraine’s membership of the EU represents a geostrategic investment in a united and strong Europe and that it equates to showing leadership, resolve and vision;
25. Calls on the Council and the Commission to set out a clear pathway for the accession negotiations, focusing on providing tangible benefits for Ukrainian society and citizens from the start of the process; invites the Council to task the Commission with immediately submitting proposals for the relevant negotiating framework and to adopt it once the relevant steps set out in the respective Commission recommendations of 8 November 2023 have been taken;
26. Recalls that the EU accession process will be merit-based and that the enlargement methodology puts an emphasis on the crucial areas of respect for the rule of law, fundamental values, human rights, democracy and the fight against corruption; believes that a firmly merit-based accession process is in the best interest of both Ukraine and the EU; encourages the EU and its Member States to provide increased support and assistance to Ukraine on its path to EU accession, including technical expertise, capacity building and the institutional reforms necessary to meet the membership criteria;
27. Calls on the Ukrainian Government to continue to strengthen local self-government, a reform that has received significant national and international acclaim, and to embed the success of the decentralisation reform in the overall architecture of Ukraine’s repair, recovery and reconstruction processes; reiterates its position that representatives of local self-government and civil society in Ukraine must be actively involved in the recovery and reconstruction process and that this process must meet the highest standards of transparency and accountability;
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Changed:27.28. Welcomes the EU institutions’ agreement in principle on the establishment of the Ukraine Facility, which will provide predictable financial assistance to Ukraine, and calls for its rapid deployment; underlines the strengthened role of the Verkhovna Rada, sub-national entities and civil society as relevant partners for the executive authority in identifying the priorities that will be financed via the Ukraine Plan, stressing that this also increases the oversight and monitoring of the Facility; points to the estimate of the World Bank’s latest Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment of at least EUR 452.8452,8 billion over the next decade for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction; stresses, therefore, that the funds provided for under the Ukraine Facility will not be sufficient and calls for the EU and its Member States to commit to additional long-term financing for Ukraine, in particular given that the latest US aid package for Ukraine remains blocked in Congress;
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Changed:28.29. Calls for the EU, the Member States and like-minded partners to provide comprehensive and coordinated political, economic, technical and humanitarian assistance to support the sustainable and inclusive post-war reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine, with a particular emphasis on the restoration of essential infrastructure, healthcare, education and social services; considers that the reconstruction of Ukraine must prioritise the well-being of the Ukrainian people over favouring oligarchs and corporate profits; calls for the EU and the Member States to continue to provide medical treatment and rehabilitation, including psychological support, to injured and bereaved Ukrainian soldiers and civilians; calls for continuous attention and increased support for demining activities in Ukraine and for a long-term demining programme;
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Added:30. Emphasises the need to support Ukraine in re-establishing the conditions that will allow its people to resume a safe and prosperous economic and social life and to recover from the profound consequences of the war on mental health, for internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their homes, and, in particular for the country’s younger generations, to develop personal, educational and entrepreneurial projects; underlines, in addition, the need to take into account the concerns, needs and expertise of internally displaced persons and refugees in the recovery and reconstruction process, as their reintegration into local communities will be crucial for strengthening Ukraine’s societal and institutional resilience and its unity;
14 unchanged paragraphs
31. Calls on the Council to maintain and extend its sanctions policy against Russia and Belarus, while monitoring, reviewing and enhancing its effectiveness and impact; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the swift implementation and strict enforcement of all 13 packages of sanctions; asks the Commission for an impact assessment on the sanctions’ effectiveness in hindering the Russian war effort and on the circumvention of sanctions; recalls that the EU is working on legislation to designate the violation of restrictive measures a criminal offence; reiterates its call on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to develop a sanction circumvention prevention mechanism;
32. Insists on the need to ban Russian uranium and metallurgical imports into the EU, as well as cooperation with the Russian nuclear sector and Rosatom in particular; calls for an immediate and full embargo on Russian imports into the EU of agricultural and fishery products, as well as fossil fuels and liquefied natural gas transported by sea through pipelines, and to further decrease the price-cap on Russian petroleum products in coordination with G7 partners in order to stop financing Russia’s war with EU money; calls, in addition, for punitive measures to be imposed against Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’, which transports oil without insurance on precarious vessels through EU and international waters, and for sanctions against companies from China and other countries helping Russia to circumvent sanctions; calls for the current military and dual-use licensing regime to be expanded to include a much larger group of war-relevant goods, including digital components; calls for the sanctions against Belarus to be fully aligned with those against Russia; calls for further persons identified by Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation to be included on the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime and other sanctions lists;
33. Condemns all those countries that are supplying military equipment to Russia and assisting it in circumventing and avoiding the effects of the sanctions imposed on it, and calls for the EU to rigorously prosecute companies, associations and individuals participating in the circumvention of sanctions; calls for the EU, the Member States and their allies to strengthen the effectiveness of the sanctions already imposed, to take urgent steps to block any attempt to circumvent these sanctions and to work on a secondary sanctions mechanism that would close any loopholes;
34. Reminds businesses, individuals, financial institutions and others that operate in or have value chains linked to the Russian Federation or the areas it occupies in Ukraine, including investors, consultants, non-governmental organisations and due diligence service providers, that they will face significant operational, legal, economic and reputational risks associated with their Russian business operations and relationships; calls on the Member States to take particular measures to prevent advanced technological products that are being exported to third countries from ending up in Russia;
35. Insists that circumventing a Union restrictive measure, including by transferring goods to a destination where their import, export, sale, purchase, transfer, transit or transport are restricted, should be criminalised at EU level; stresses that it is critical for enforcement that the EU quickly criminalise direct sanctions violations, including when committed with serious negligence, as well as indirect sanctions violations through the circumvention of Union restrictive measures; welcomes the recently reached agreement in principle between EU institutions on new rules criminalising the violation of EU sanctions;
36. Condemns Russia’s practice of blocking any action at UN level aimed at holding it accountable for its war of aggression against Ukraine; calls for the EU and its Member States to take further action to continue Russia’s international isolation, including with regard to Russia’s membership of international organisations and bodies, such as the UN Security Council;
37. Underlines the urgency of establishing a sound legal regime allowing for the confiscation of Russian state-owned assets frozen by the EU, and for their use to address the various consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including the reconstruction of the country and compensation for the victims of Russia’s aggression, thereby strengthening the resilience of Ukraine; underlines its conviction that once the war ends, Russia must be obliged to pay the reparations imposed on it to ensure that it makes a substantial contribution to the reconstruction of Ukraine; welcomes the creation of the Register of Damage caused by the Russian aggression, which is the first step in the establishment of an international compensation mechanism; welcomes, therefore, the Council’s decision to set aside, as a first step, extraordinary revenues generated by assets and reserves of the Central Bank of Russia immobilised under EU sanctions, which will allow them to be used to make a financial contribution to the EU’s support for the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine through the Ukraine Facility;
38. Reiterates its concern about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is illegally controlled by Russia; supports efforts to maintain a continued International Atomic Energy Agency presence at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant; recalls and condemns Russia’s actions that have inflicted severe damage on the environment in Ukraine, including the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, the logging of Ukrainian forests, extensive mining and the contamination of air and water resources; reiterates its deep concern about the broader long-term environmental impact of the war; underlines the need to create a system for recording and assessing the environmental damage caused by Russia and to prepare legal grounds for Russia’s accountability for those crimes;
39. Strongly condemns Russia’s eradication, destruction and looting of Ukraine’s cultural artefacts, such as churches, artworks, museums and universities; takes note of the damage, as verified by UNESCO, that has been caused to 341 sites since the start of the full-scale invasion, including 126 religious sites, 150 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 31 museums, 19 monuments, 14 libraries and 1 archive; reiterates that the deliberate destruction and looting of Ukrainian cultural heritage sites may amount to war crimes;
40. Calls for the EU and its Member States to work strategically and proactively to counter hybrid threats, to strengthen EU strategic communication and to prevent Russia’s interference in political, electoral and other democratic processes in Ukraine and in the EU, in particular malicious acts aimed at manipulating public opinion and undermining European integration, particularly in the light of the upcoming European elections; calls on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to provide relevant information on the mutual benefits and opportunities of enlargement both in Ukraine and in the Member States in order to further increase support and improve understanding of the accession process;
41. Condemns the assassination of Maksim Kuzminov in Spain; calls on the Member States to respond promptly and with resolve against disruptive actions by the Russian intelligence services within the EU’s territory; recommends that the Member States enhance counterintelligence cooperation and information-sharing;
42. Expresses concern about the restriction of foreign travel of members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; believes that this could be considered indiscriminate restriction of the political activity of elected members of parliament, in particular of those representing the opposition; strongly believes that in times of war, any political resource that can represent Ukraine’s cause in any international forum should not be disregarded;
43. Expresses its utmost appreciation for the continued and tireless work of the local staff of the Delegation of the EU to Ukraine in circumstances that remain very difficult for them and their relatives; urges the EEAS and the Commission to adopt contingency plans and interim solutions for the local staff of the EU Delegation, including teleworking and flexible working arrangements and temporary relocation solutions, which are tailored to meeting the actual needs and challenges of the staff; stresses, in addition, the importance of taking adequate care of the mental health of the EU Delegation’s staff;
44. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President, Government and Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the United Nations and the Russian and Belarusian authorities.