The recent actions taken and language adopted by Vladimir Putin’s government on the global stage raise concerns not only regarding the rule of law and respect for human rights in Russia, but also about the country's political intentions abroad and increasing coercive influence on foreign states. Russia’s violation of international law and agreements concerning Georgia in 2008, its occupation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and the subsequent invasion of Eastern Ukraine proved that Putin’s regime will not stop short of using violence in its pursuit of rebuilding the influence, institutions and territory of Russian and Soviet imperialist projects of the past. More recently, the regime has increasingly leveraged its control of vast natural resources through state-owned energy companies in furthering its revisionist agenda. Russian government bodies use well-funded disinformation campaigns and overt propaganda to influence elections in European countries such as elections in France and Germany and the referendum on the membership of the United Kingdom in the European Union. The US intelligence community has also indicated that Russia gained access, through illegal means, to the internal correspondence of US political groups in the run-up to the American presidential election. The Russian government and intelligence services insistently try to gain a firm political and economic foothold in the European Union and its institutions. In this regard, we are worried about the fact that some European governments support the Kremlin’s policies rather than defend our common European values. Moreover, certain political circles and movements in the EU are financed by and might not be indifferent to Russian propaganda in its various forms.
Sound in our conviction that free and fair democracies deliver the best possible governance for all, the European Green Party cannot accept repeated violations of international law, the norms of global cooperation, and the right of communities to self-determination. We denounce the attempts by Vladimir Putin’s government to sway elections in its favour and its use of natural resources to blackmail sovereign states.
We acknowledge that recent actions by the Russian state pose a direct threat to the democratic infrastructure of European, Middle Eastern and Asian states. We reaffirm our support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and do not recognise the legitimacy of any referendum held under the duress of military occupation. We continue to observe worrying developments in Russian society and public life with great concern, and we believe that inequality, crackdown on civil society, blatant disregard for mass human rights violations, including the continuing violence against and persecution of LGBTIQA+ peoples in Russia, lopsided economic development, a systematic disregard for environmental protection and sustainability, and a permanent arms race will never benefit the interests and general well-being of Russian citizens and might also prove to be a threat to the democratic values in the European Union. We advocate for a democratic, prosperous, globally engaged and sustainable Russia at peace with its neighbours, global partners and regional stakeholders.
Furthermore, the European Green Party supports EU sanctions on Russia linked to both the annexation of Crimea and the war in the Donbass, and stands firm for their extension as long as these crises are not solved.
We urge European institutions and EU member states to deepen exchange with Russian civil society, academia, independent media and progressive opposition forces. Condemning and sanctioning official Russian elites for violations of international law should be paralleled by offering and showing Russian civil society and the Russian people better alternatives.
