Resolution by the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly on the tenth anniversary of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the second anniversary of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine as adopted on 20 March 2024

(C/2024/3824)

THE EURONEST PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY,

— having regard to the Constituent Act of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly of 3 May 2011 and the Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit of 15 December 2021,

— having regard to Articles 9 and 17(3) of the Rules of Procedure of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly,

— having regard to the relevant UN resolutions, namely 68/262 of 27 March 2014 entitled ‘Territorial integrity of Ukraine’, ES-11/1 of 2 March 2022, entitled ‘Aggression against Ukraine’, ES-11/2 of 24 March 2022 entitled ‘Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine’, ES-11/4 of 12 October 2022 entitled ‘Territorial Integrity of Ukraine: Defending the Principles of the Charter of the United Nations’, and ES-11/5 of 14 November 2022 entitled ‘Furtherance of remedy and reparation of aggression against Ukraine’,

— having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 29 February 2024 on the need for unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after two years of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and Parliament’s previous resolutions on Ukraine and on Russia, in particular those adopted since the escalation of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February 2022 and the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula on 19 February 2014, as well as to statements by the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee condemning the Russian aggression against Ukraine starting from 2014 and its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine launched on 24 February 2022,

whereas Ukraine has been resisting the war of aggression for 10 years, since Russia attempted the illegal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol in February 2014 and later that year temporarily occupied certain territories of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions;

whereas 24 February 2024 marked two years since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine;

whereas thousands of civilians, including hundreds of children, have been murdered and many more have been tortured, harassed, sexually assaulted, kidnapped or forcibly displaced;

whereas 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; whereas, as a result of the massive targeting of civilian infrastructure, Ukrainian children are being severely deprived of access to basic services, such as education and healthcare, in particular mental health support;

whereas Russia’s revisionist policies and complete disregard for international law and fundamental values underpinning the rules-based global order pose a direct threat to the stability and security of the whole of Europe;

whereas Russia is set to continue its war of attrition against Ukraine, and additional consolidated efforts are needed to make the cost of the war effort unsustainable for the Russian regime and to ensure Russia’s accountability for the crimes and destruction it has committed in Ukraine;

whereas the security and prosperity of a free and democratic Ukraine are integral to the security and prosperity of the European Union;

whereas on 14 December 2023, the European Council decided to open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and invited the Council to adopt the respective negotiating frameworks once the relevant steps set out in the respective Commission recommendations of 8 November 2023 were taken;

Condemns strongly and firmly Russia’s unprovoked, unjustified and illegal full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, which it started two years ago on 24 February 2022, which became an expansion of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine that has been ongoing since 19 February 2014 and which is a blatant violation of the Charter of the United Nations and rules of international law and international humanitarian law;

Underlines that Russia’s crime of aggression against Ukraine is a brutal attack against the peaceful lives of European citizens and a grave violation of international law, which threatens the security, stability, democracy and prosperity of the entire European continent in an unprecedented manner and which therefore requires equally unprecedented actions and unwavering solidarity and unity in response;

Calls for continued EU support for Ukraine’s efforts to fully restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognised borders, including Crimea; underlines the need for the international community to consolidate its efforts in the de-occupation of Crimea, in particular through the implementation of the Crimea Platform initiative;

Condemns Russia’s conducting of its presidential elections on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine on 15-17 March 2024; underlines that the results of these illegal elections are therefore null and void and calls for Putin not to be recognised as the re-elected president due to the fake election process;

Calls on the international community to continue to provide and expand the critical assistance which Ukraine needs to win the war, end Russian terror, ensure the swift and transparent recovery of Ukraine and restore lasting peace in Europe; calls, in particular, for the EU to have a collective Plan for Victory of Ukraine in order to provide the necessary political, diplomatic, financial, economic and military means for the defence of Ukraine, to ensure that Western military annual support is greater than 0.25 % of the West’s gross domestic product and to ramp up the capacity of the European military industry to produce the necessary supplies of military equipment;

Reiterates its support for Ukraine’s Peace Formula as the only effective and realistic plan aimed at restoring a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine and security for the whole world; expresses its commitment to working actively with Ukraine on implementing this initiative;

Underlines the need to develop a legal mechanism for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets so that they can be used for Ukraine’s defence and as a source of compensation and reconstruction for Ukraine;

Calls on the international community to continue working closely with Ukraine and to ensure accountability for the crimes committed by Russia against Ukraine since February 2014, especially the crime of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity and alleged genocide; calls for a special tribunal to be set up, as a matter of priority, to investigate and prosecute the crime of aggression committed against Ukraine by Russia’s leaders, its military forces and their allies;

Strongly condemns the deliberate and ongoing massive missile and drone attacks by Russia all across Ukraine hitting mainly civilian objects including hospitals, schools, museums, nurseries, post offices, railway and metro stations, shopping centres and hundreds of apartment buildings, thus causing civilian loss of life and injuries;

10.

Condemns Russia’s continued illegal transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children and their further illegal adoption by Russian citizens, forceful passportisation and militarisation; calls on Russia to stop immediately and unconditionally its unlawful, forcible transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, Belarus and within temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories and to provide for their safe and unhindered repatriation to Ukraine or to a safe third state;

11.

Stresses the importance of Ukraine receiving the necessary EU support to overcome the environmental damage caused by the war, particularly as regards demining, ecological restoration and ensuring the green transition of the Ukrainian economy;

12.

Condemns Russia’s attempts to deny Ukraine and its people their ethnic, linguistic and historical identity by erasing signs of Ukrainian identity in the occupied and annexed territories and banning the use of the Ukrainian language and symbols;

13.

Condemns the drastic deterioration of the human rights situation under Russian occupation; condemns, further, the arbitrary detentions, disappearances, threats against, torture, forced passportisation and mobilisation of Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and illegal deportations of Ukrainian civilians, including children, which all indicate the deliberate genocide of the Ukrainian people;

14.

Calls for the introduction of individual sanctions on persons who ensure the work of the Russian military industry and have property, assets and/or business interests in the countries of the sanctioning coalition and/or may visit them or reside in them (including members of their families), pro-Kremlin propagandists, athletes, journalists, artists and persons involved in the forced displacement and illegal adoption of Ukrainian children;

15.

Calls on the remaining Eastern Partnership countries to fully align themselves with the EU sanctions against Russia for its war of aggression against Ukraine and to effectively prevent any current or potential attempts to circumvent the sanctions via their territory;

16.

Welcomes the landmark and strategic decision of the European Council to open negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, as well as the adoption of the Ukraine Facility instrument; notes that Ukraine’s future membership means more security, power and prosperity for Europe; is thus looking forward to the swiftest possible approval of the negotiation framework with Ukraine;

17.

Welcomes Ukraine’s progress in implementing four legislative steps defined by the Commission in the Enlargement Package, as well as the start of the screening process; emphasises the need to maintain democratic achievements such as press freedom and political pluralism as key points for European integration and underlines the crucial role and responsibility of the Verkhovna Rada in protecting democracy and the rule of law during the period of martial law and beyond;

18.

Urges the Commission and the EU Member States to continue to support Ukraine so that its EU accession negotiations begin without delay; underlines the need for urgent measures to be adopted to enhance the accession process of the candidate countries;

19.

Expresses its full support for the ongoing investigation by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Ukraine; urges Ukraine to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC and its amendments and to formally become a member of the ICC in order to support international efforts to establish accountability for serious international crimes; calls for the EU to make further diplomatic efforts to encourage the ratification of the Rome Statute and all its amendments globally.

ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/3824/oj

ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)