Crimea: sanctions against Russia necessary

The EPP Group in the European Parliament is calling for targeted sanctions against Russia, following Moscow’s continued failure to contribute to international mediation efforts in Ukraine.

“In the absence of Russian willingness to de-escalate the Crimean crisis, the EU must impose travel bans and asset freezes on leading Russian officials, impose an arms and dual-use technology embargo and, in the end, economic sanctions,” said the Chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Elmar Brok (Germany), the EPP Group Coordinator in the Foreign Affairs Committee, José Ignacio Salafranca (Spain) and the Vice-President of the Eastern Partnership Parliamentary Assembly, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski (Poland).

The three EPP Group members underlined that their demands were reflected by a cross-party resolution tabled for a plenary vote tomorrow, Thursday 13 March. Referring to the scheduled Crimean referendum as “illegitimate and illegal”, the joint motion condemns Russia’s invasion of Crimea and recalls that these actions are in breach of international law.

“Russia itself has guaranteed the territorial integrity of Ukraine in the Budapest memorandum. By now forcing the annexation of Crimea in the absence of any threat to the Russian-speaking minority of Ukraine and given the proven record of the new Ukrainian government not to use any force, Russia is engaging in a cold-blooded breach of its own legal obligations and international law,” Brok, Salafranca and Saryusz-Wolski said.

“This is a coup against international law. Europe and the international community as a whole cannot remain silent in the face of such aggression. Sanctions are necessary, since Russia failed to grasp any prior possibility to defuse the tensions diplomatically.”

Note: The European Parliament is scheduled to vote its resolution on the Crimean crisis on Thursday 13 March at noon CET.