On the situation in Ukraine

EGP Resolution adopted at the 29th EGP Council in Berlin, 23-25 November 2018

On the situation in Ukraine

The armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine, ongoing since 2014, is not – and has never been – a civil war. From the very beginning of the armed conflict, besides the political conflict in Ukraine, there has also been a specific form of external aggression by the Russian Federation. Any solution to the conflict must address all of these different problems.

On the occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine and the Crimea, taking place systemic and massive violations of human rights and freedoms, including rights of representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people. Their vital needs ignored and cultural heritage is being destroyed.

Therefore, the European Green Party:

-       demands condemnation of Russia’s foreign policy which is aimed at undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine and weakening its institutions by encouraging and supporting de facto authorities of separatist regions in Luhansk and Donetsk and thereby hindering the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity; 

-       believes that the ongoing military conflict in Eastern Ukraine is currently one of the most important threats to security in Europe; 

-       reiterates its support to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements but is disappointed in the relevant lack of progress; takes note of ongoing talks on the possible deployment of a UN-mandated peacekeeping operation in Eastern Ukraine; 

-       invites the leaders of the Normandy format to engage in discussing this option and taking new initiatives; continues to support all efforts for a lasting peaceful solution which respects the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, in particular by the deployment of a peace-building and peacekeeping mission;

-       calls for safe and unrestricted access for international monitoring along the border with a view to bringing it back under the control of the Ukrainian authorities;

-       takes the view that the EU sanctions against individuals and entities in Russia must be extended as long there are no credible signs of the implementation of the Minsk agreements getting under way; stresses that such implementation by all sides must be the basis for a sustainable, comprehensive and lasting political solution to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine; insists that the EU should keep the option of further additional sanctions open if Russia continues to violate international law; underlines that the annexation of Crimea into the Russian Federation remains illegal under international law; is alarmed by and deplores the militarisation of the annexed Crimea carried out by Russia, and draws attention to the threat of deploying nuclear weapons on the peninsula which could further destabilise the situation on the continent and complicate the conditions of political dialogue with regard, in particular, to the ongoing negotiations in the Normandy format; 

-       expresses concern at the slow pace of reform in Ukraine and believes, in particular, that EU financial assistance should be made conditional on an effective fight against corruption, particularly with regard to the establishment and functioning of the anti-corruption court, an effective verification system of asset declarations made by public officials, and the exemption from e-declarations of assets for civil society activists working in the field of anti-corruption;

-       demands that the Russian Federation immediately and unconditionally releases Oleg Sentsov and all other illegally detained Ukrainian citizens, including ethnic minorities, civil society actors and human rights defenders, ethnic minorities and indigenous people to stop the prosecution of the Crimean Tatars and other opponents of the occupation regime;

-       demands the implementation of the UN International Court of Justice  interim decision concerning the Crimea and Donbass, the restoration of the Crimean Tatar people's representative body in Crimea in particular;

-       calls for the cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 project as it is a political project which,  runs contrarily to the European approach resulting in considerable geostrategic, infrastructural and political costs