The European Parliament on Wednesday approved the designation of Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism in a resolution supported by the majority groups in the European Parliament.
With 494 votes in favor, 58 against and 44 abstentions, MEPs «recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism using terrorist means» and ask the EU-27 to take steps at the national level and the European institutions to generate the legal framework for the designation.
The resolution focuses on denouncing the more than 40,000 documented war crimes allegedly committed by the Russian Army, in particular the massacres of Ukrainian civilians in places such as Irpin, Bucha or Izium.
Since the EU legal framework does not provide for the designation of countries as sponsors of terrorism, a scheme that does exist in the United States or Canada, the resolution emphasizes that the EU develop a mechanism to denounce countries using terrorist means, which would facilitate «numerous significant restrictive measures and have profound implications for the EU’s relations with those countries.»
The resolution has been greeted with good words from Kiev. Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski has welcomed the decision and insisted that Russia must be isolated «at all levels» on the international scene and held accountable for its «terrorist policy.»
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dimitro Kuleba, thanked the European Parliament for the initiative that denounces «Russia’s history of terror» and in particular extended thanks to its president, Roberta Metsola, for her «clear position».
MORE SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA The initiative promoted by the right-wing groups has finally counted with the favorable vote of the Social Democrat group, which initially opposed the language used in the joint drafting. The resolution further demands that the EU continue to impose sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its military offensive in Ukraine and move forward with the ninth package. Specifically, it calls for a «total embargo» on imports of Russian hydrocarbons and uranium and to abandon the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines altogether.
The MEPs also call for a tightening of the import clampdown and targeting of sectors such as diamonds and increased sanctions against cryptocurrencies, as well as restrictions against persons responsible for referendums in Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions, and the designation of Russia and Belarus on the European anti-money laundering list.
