Further clarification on the non-vote on the resolution on the Russian Federation

To Whom It May Concern:

To avoid further manipulation or misunderstandings regarding our decision not to vote on the final text of the resolution designating the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism, we wish to provide further clarifications.

We chose the possibility to refrain from voting because none of the voting options fully corresponded to our positions. We are in no way against the main text of the resolution, nor do we have any reservations about it, as we have always strongly condemned the Russian aggression against Ukraine and we strongly support Ukraine’s struggle for its territorial integrity and independence and its efforts to defend against Russian aggression. This is evident from all our actions and personal endeavours to date. We have also demonstrated this by voting in favour of all previous resolutions on Ukraine. We have also endorsed, in the same plenary vote this week (Thursday, 24 November 2022), two actual legislative proposals: on financial assistance to Ukraine and on the non-recognition of Russian travel documents issued in the occupied territory.

Why were we unable to vote in favour of this particular resolution? During the vote on the amendments, we supported the amendments put forward by the Group of the Greens, which in our opinion would have made the final text of the resolution better (also in terms of international law or possible consequences). To summarise: one amendment by the Greens, which was not adopted in the end, would have recognised the Russian Federation as a state which uses means of terrorism. Their second amendment, which was also ultimately not adopted, would have called on the EU and its Member States to take concrete practical steps “in the face of such terrorist acts, using all existing instruments available” and to trigger “further restrictive measures against Russia”, while calling on the EU’s partners to adopt similar measures.

Furthermore, we took exception to the PiS party (Poland, a member party of the ECR Group in the European Parliament) managing to insert into the text of the resolution a part referring to the crash of a Polish plane in 2010 (with part of the then government on board) in the same article or paragraph that otherwise states the facts about the proven downing of a Malaysian plane in 2014.

We are always fighting against autocratic and, above all, violent regimes that kill innocent people, destroy infrastructure, displace populations and put the whole world in danger. This certainly applies to Russia, but also to all other current and past wars.

We would like to reiterate our strong condemnation of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and our strong support for Ukraine’s struggle for its territorial integrity. The option we have chosen in the vote this time does not change our position in any way.

Below you can find the amendments that we supported and were rejected (the original text on the left and the proposed amendments on the right).

Yours sincerely,

MEPs Irena Joveva and Dr Klemen Grošelj

Amendment 1

Amendment 2