In the European Parliament's resolution adopted by a large majority, the representatives demand sanctions against Russia, including the introduction of a complete embargo on Russian oil, coal, nuclear fuel and gas imports, the EU body's press release on Thursday wrote. Members of the European Parliament of Fidesz explained that the measure would "kill" the Hungarian economy and make Hungarian families pay the price of the war.
According to the EP, the embargo must be accompanied by a plan that ensures the security of the EU's energy supply. The panel adds: "a strategy should also be developed that allows sanctions to be lifted in the event that Russia takes steps to restore Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders and fully withdraw its troops from the country's territory."
"The sanctions in force must now be fully and effectively implemented throughout the EU and by the EU's international allies," the representatives emphasize. They call on EU leaders to exclude Russia from the G20 group and other multilateral organizations such as the UN Human Rights Council, Interpol, the World Trade Organization, UNESCO. "This will send an important message to Russia that the international community will not return to the previous cooperation with the aggressor state," the resolution said.
In order to make the sanctions more effective, the EU Parliament requests that Russian banks be excluded from the SWIFT interbank communication system, that Russian ships be banned from entering EU territorial waters and mooring in EU ports, and that road traffic from and to Russia and Belarus be suspended delivery of goods.
The representatives also demand the seizure of all the assets of "officials or oligarchs, proxies and their cronies belonging to the regimes of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko".
According to the majority of representatives, "the shocking atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine, especially in Bucsa, are undeniably war crimes." They stress that war criminals must be held accountable and call for the creation of a special UN tribunal to investigate war crimes committed in Ukraine.
The EP's resolution confirms that arms deliveries must be continued and increased so that Ukraine can effectively defend itself. The representatives support the additional defense support provided to the Ukrainian armed forces by the EU member states individually and jointly through the European Peacekeeping Instrument.
The representatives draw attention to the fact that nearly 6.5 million Ukrainian citizens have been forced to leave their homes due to the war, and more than 4 million have fled the country, therefore they call for safe humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians fleeing the bombings.
In Thursday's vote, Fidesz members of the European Parliament also voted decisively against the proposal to introduce an embargo on gas, oil and nuclear fuel coming from Russia, according to a statement published on the Facebook page of Fidesz MEP Kinga Gál.
Kinga Gál wrote: such a measure would "kill" the Hungarian economy and make Hungarian families pay the price of the war, so these proposals were firmly rejected.
"We stand for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, we condemn the Russian aggression, therefore, for the sake of European unity, we will support the EP decision in the final vote. We do all this by rejecting the proposals to introduce an embargo aimed at the peaceful use of gas and oil and nuclear energy in the European Parliament and all EU institutions," said the politician.
MTI / hirado.hu
Cover image: Illustration / Frans Timmermans - MTI/EPA/LUSA/Miguel A. Lopes
