Activities of Anna FOTYGA related to 2021/2042(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Direction of EU-Russia political relations (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the direction of EU-Russia political relations
Amendments (109)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1
Citation 1
— having regard to its previous resolutions on Russia, in particular those of 18 September 2014 on the situation in Ukraine and the state of play of EU- Russia relations, of 11 June 2015 on the strategic military situation in the Black Sea Basin following the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia, of 16 March 2017 on the Ukrainian prisoners in Russia and the situation in Crimea, of 12 March 2019 on the state of EU-Russia political relations1 , of 19 September 2019 on the importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe2 , of 19 December 2019 on the Russian ‘foreign agents’ law3 , of 17 September 2020 on the poisoning of Alexei Navalny4 , of 21 January 2021 on the arrest of Alexei Navalny5 and of 29 April 2021 on Russia, the case of Alexei Navalny, the military build-up on Ukraine’s border and Russian attacks in the Czech Republic6 , of 14 June 2018 on Georgian occupied territories 10 years after the Russian invasion, of 23 November 2016 on EU strategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties, _________________ 1 OJ C 23, 21.1.2021, p. 7. 2 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2019)0021, 3 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2019)0108. 4 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2020)0232. 5 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2021)0018, 6 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2021)0159,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
— having regard to the joint communication from the European Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social committee and the committee of the Regions - Tackling Covid-19 disinformation -Getting the facts right (JOIN/2020/8 final),
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. whereas the main interest of the EU is to keep stability and peace on the European continent, which is being threatened by aggressive external policies of the Russian authorities;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A c (new)
Recital -A c (new)
-Ac. whereas the EU strategy towards Russia needs to combine two major objectives: first, to stop the Kremlin’s external and domestic aggressiveness and second, to engage with the people of Russia and assist them in building a different future for Russia, which would benefit all the people on the European continent including the Russian;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A d (new)
Recital -A d (new)
-Ad. whereas the Kremlin authority can be described as a stagnating authoritarian kleptocracy led by a president-for-life surrounded by a circle of oligarchs, who has started wars against his neighbours, assassinates opponents inside and outside Russia, interferes in the US’ and European elections, and acts as an anti- Western spoiler at every opportunity;
Amendment 27 #
-Ae. whereas President Putin’s approach is clearly revisionist, trying to extend control over territories he considers lost after the collapse of the Soviet Union;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A f (new)
Recital -A f (new)
-Af. whereas the Kremlin’s regime continues the illegal occupation of territories and maintains frozen conflicts in Moldova (Transnistria), Georgia (Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia), interferes directly in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, engages in the destabilisation and effective control of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts directly and through Russian and local mercenaries, and especially annexed Crimea to Russia violently and illegally; whereas the Kremlin’s regime continues to consider these actions as favourable to its interests;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A h (new)
Recital -A h (new)
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas Russia is continuing its aggressive behaviour on the border with Ukraineon against Ukraine since February 2014 and interfering with acts of terrorism on the territory of EU Member States, such as Czechia, and its eastern neighbours, inter alia by supporting the illegitimate regime of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the Kremlin’s regime has in several weeks of March and April 2021 substantially increased its military presence on the eastern and northern border of Ukraine, which is the biggest concentration of Russian troops since 2014; whereas the Kremlin regime suspended the right of passage for warships and commercial vessels of other countries through part of the Black Sea in the direction of the Kerch Strait, which is in violation of navigation rights guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which Russia is a party;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas illegal actions by the Kremlin regime on the territory of the United Kingdom, Czechia, Bulgaria, as well as many other EU Member States and Eastern Partnership countries constitute a critical violation of their sovereignty; whereas the Kremlin regime is non-cooperative in investigating those crimes and is sheltering key suspects;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas President Putin’s political and economic investment into the survival of the illegitimate Lukashenko regime is the only reason why Mr Lukashenko is still able to continue the brutal persecution of Belarusian people who are demanding respect for human rights, free and transparent elections, rule of law and justice; whereas from the summer of 2020 the illegitimate Lukashenko regime incarcerated more than 360 political prisoners and arrested, persecuted and in many cases tortured more than 30 000 protesters;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A f (new)
Recital A f (new)
Af. whereas the EU dependency on imports of Russia’s energy products is one of the major threats to EU’s geopolitical security;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A g (new)
Recital A g (new)
Ag. whereas more than 60 per cent of EU imports from Russia in 2019 were energy products; whereas the EU needs to reduce the dependency of its economy, especially in the energy sector, on Russian gas supplies to EU markets, which is now at 48 % and has a tendency to increase;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A i (new)
Recital A i (new)
Ai. whereas the Russian Federation poses not only an external threat to European security, but is also waging an internal war on its own people in the form of the systematic oppression of the opposition and arrests on the streets; whereas Russia has continued to unlawfully detain its citizens and target opposition leaders, independent journalists, protesters, human rights activists; whereas the prison conditions in Russia remain dreadful and people imprisoned are subject to torture, harassment, physical attacks;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A j (new)
Recital A j (new)
Aj. whereas, according to the Memorial Human Rights Centre, the Russian authorities currently hold nearly 400 political prisoners in violation of the Russian Federation’s obligations under Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 23 of the Concluding Document of the Vienna Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the Kremlin’s regime continues the systemic repressions of democratic forces by means of a significant number of attempted poisonings and murders, arrests and political sentencings of main oppositioners and activists such as Anna Politkovskaya, Boris Nemtsov, Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei and Yulia Skripal, Sergei Protazanov, Vladimir Kara-Murza and others; whereas the organisers of these crimes remain unidentified and unindicted; whereas the OSCE report on the murder of Boris Nemtsov has concluded that ‘the main issue for addressing impunity is not the capabilities of the Russian law enforcement, but the political will’;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the Russian authorities’ decision to declare the Anti-Corruption Foundation headed by Alexei Navalny an extremist organisation is baseless, discriminatory and has been adopted with only one goal: to destroy opposition’s possibilities to effectively participate in election campaigns; whereas the law on ‘foreign agents’ is allowing individuals, associations and media to be stigmatised as ‘foreign agents’, thereby violating human rights, in particular freedom of expression and association, restricting the citizens’ right to commit and contribute to Russian civil society and putting their personal safety at risk by bearing such a stigma;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas the Kremlin’s regime adopted the laws on persons or entities supporting ‘foreign agents’ and ‘undesirable foreign organisations’, by which it has systemically banned active members of civil society, human rights NGOs, and the opposition from participating in the 2021 Parliamentary elections in Russia;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)
Recital B d (new)
Bd. whereas the Russian authorities are holding the key opposition players of parliamentary election campaign in prison or under home arrest; whereas continuing repressions by Russian authorities on opposition candidates by abusing the registration procedures and selectively targeting political opponents and civil society organisations in the streets and courts under fabricated cases will make it simply impossible to speak about fair parliamentary elections in September 2021, as by these actions the regime in Russia is destroying political competition and pluralist democracy as does the dictatorship in Belarus;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B e (new)
Recital B e (new)
Be. whereas the endlessly increasing systemic oppression by the Kremlin of the opposition in Russia is an eye opener for the whole international community and whereas the EU must be ready to face it and develop a coherent strategy of response if it wants to save its own reputation; whereas, in particular, the EU has to build an increasing pressure on the Kremlin regime in the run-up to the 2021 parliamentary election and in its aftermath in order to defend the right for the Russian people to have free elections;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B f (new)
Recital B f (new)
Bf. whereas in the light of recent developments in the area from Brest to Khabarovsk, Belarus and Russia are living through a moment of significant changes and the processes in both countries are very heavily influencing each other; whereas both regimes in Russia and Belarus are fearing the growing demand for change among their peoples, which is why stealing elections presents itself as a convenient political solution;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas in July 2020 the Russian authorities enacted a series of constitutional amendments – including an amendment giving President Putin a waiver from presidential term-limits in 2024 – in a procedure that violated both Russian law and the Russian Federation’s OSCE obligations, and that the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) has assessed as ‘clearly inappropriate’; whereas the constitutional and legislative amendments further eroded the right to a fair trial in Russia, including by giving the President the power to nominate the judges of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, and initiate the appointment of all federal judges and dismissal of senior federal judges;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas Russia continues to be in breach of its international obligations and refuses to fully implement the ceasefire agreements of 12 August 2008 following its aggression of Georgia, and of 12 February 2015 following its aggression of Ukraine;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas in its resolutions of 17 September 2020, 21 January 2021 and 29 April 2021 Parliament called upon High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell for a review of the EU’s policy vis-à-vis Russia, including the five guiding principles agreed in 2016, emphasised that future EU relations with Russia would depend on the pace of Russia’s democratic transformation and called for the EU institutions to devise a new strategic approach on the assumption that any dialogue with Russia must be based on respect for international law and human rights, in particular to develop a new comprehensive strategy, which will be conditional on further developments in the area of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights by the Russian leadership and authorities;
Amendment 138 #
E. whereas the five EU guiding principles for relations with Russia have deterredcontribute to containing the Kremlin regime from furtherextension of direct aggression against Ukraine, butwhile they are silent with respectneed to be further strengthened, in particular complemented to containing President Putin’s war against the people of Russia;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the new EU strategy should consider Russia under its current regime as a long term threat to the European security in accordance with the recent assessment of NATO Reflection Group and be centred on the ‘push-back, contain and engage’ principles aimed at strengthening the EU’s capacity to combat the Kremlin’s threats, especially in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region, including Belarus, as well as in Russia itself, by defending human rights and assisting Russia’s transformation into a democracy in accordance with the principle of ‘democracy first’;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas, according to the Memorial Human Rights Centre, the Russian authorities currently hold nearly 400 political prisoners in violation of the Russian Federation’s obligations under Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 23of the Concluding Document of the Vienna Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
Fb. whereas in July 2020 the Russian authorities enacted a series of constitutional amendments – including an amendment giving President Putin a waiver from presidential term-limits in 2024– in a procedure that violated both Russian law and the Russian Federation’s OSCE obligations, and that the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) has assessed as “clearly inappropriate”; https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?p dffile=CDL-AD(2021)005-e
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F g (new)
Recital F g (new)
Fg. whereas the transformation of Russia back into a democracy will depend on the willingness of the Russian people, and the EU must be ready to assist them in their wish to have a democratic country;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should be based on the assumption that the people of Russia can transform their country into a democracy, while there are no prospects for any significant developments with the current Russian leadership;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas the organisers and masterminds of the 2015 assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov remain unidentified and unindicted, while the OSCE report on this issue has concluded that “the main issue for addressing impunity is not the capabilities of the Russian law enforcement, but political will”;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
Gb. whereas in 2020 Russia ranked 129th out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, ranking the lowest in Europe; whereas kleptocratic links between oligarchs, security officers and officials linked to the Kremlin have been partially exposed by anticorruption activists such as the late Sergei Magnitsky and the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) led by Alexei Navalny, implicating the highest echelons of power, including Vladimir Putin;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G c (new)
Recital G c (new)
Gc. whereas the construction of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, completed in 2012, was one of the factors which enabled the Russian Federation to implement its aggressive policies towards Ukraine and the ongoing construction of Nord Stream 2 constitutes a further threat to the security of Ukraine, as well as to the EU internal market, as it is not in line with EU energy policy or Europe’s strategic interests;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should work in the interest of the EU and offerprompt Russia ato respect the norms and principles of international law, thus encouraging future constructive dialogue aimed at promoting the values of human rights and democracy;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
(a) the EU, together with NATO and international partners, should deter Russia and keep stability in the EaP region by pressing Russia not to interfere in the regionthose countries’ European, Euro-Atlantic and democratic choice as well as and to return the occupied territories in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood, in accordance with their internationally recognised borders;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
(aa) acknowledges that the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and the 1990 OSCE Charter of Paris represent the cornerstones of a peaceful European continent and regrets that the Russian Federation consistently violates international law, international agreements and its own obligations and the measures implemented by the international community to change Kremlin's aggressive policy are insufficient and therefore need to be strengthened;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
(aa) the EU, in particular the Member States, should deliver on their commitments for collective defence made within the frameworks of the EU and NATO, which is the only power on the European continent that can deter Russia’s nuclear capabilities and this is why NATO cannot be replaced by the EU’s strategically autonomous military capabilities;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
(ab) acknowledges that the continued failure to respond adequately to the subsequent Russian aggressions since against Georgia in 2008 prompted Russia to continue aggressive military and political campaigns, both in its neighbourhood and beyond, with no fear of retribution, and by doing so to weaken and undermine the rules-based international order and stability in Europe and elsewhere;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
(ab) the EU needs to strengthen the cooperation of security services of EU Member states in order to be more effective in preventing Russian special services to implement on EU territory their terrorist attacks, poisoning or killing of opponents; and to work further with the US administration on the new measures to push-back on Kremlin’s sponsored terrorism;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a c (new)
(ac) the EU should have a strategic responsibility for stability and development in the EU neighbourhood, especially the Eastern Partnership region and should keep demanding Russia to implement its international obligations and give back control of the occupied territories, as well as remove its military resources from the sovereign territories of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, including in the Sea of Azov; the EU should keep its sanctions in place until Russia fully implements its commitments under the Minsk agreements;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a d (new)
(ad) the EU should be more effective in pushing back and broaden the scope of its sanctions to increase the price Russia pays for blocking the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the talks in the Normandy format; the EU should coordinate these measures with the US in order to increase their effectiveness;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b
Paragraph 1 – point b
(b) the EU should be ready to call for the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT payment system and to stop all the imports of oil and gas from Russia immediately if the Russian authorities continue their aggressive threats and military action against EU Member States and EaP neighbouring countries;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b
Paragraph 1 – point b
(b) the EU should be ready to call forinitiate the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT payment system if the Russian authorities continudoes not cease their aggressive threats and military action against EU Member States and EaP neighbouring countries;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) the EU should take resolute measures to deter Russia from circumventing existing EU sanctions imposed on Russia in connection with its aggressive actions against Ukraine. To this end, the EU should review and update its applicable regulations to close multiple loopholes in the sanctions rules to render them more efficient and to genuinely increase the cost of Russia’s hybrid aggressive action;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c
Paragraph 1 – point c
(c) the EU must have a clear goal and plans on how to cut its dependency on Russian gas and oil, at least while President Putin is in power; the EU needs to elaborate and implement a clear strategy on how to decrease dependency on Russian gas; the EU geopolitical security should have as a major priority the implementation of the Green Deal package to reduce EU’s dependency on Russia’s gas and oil supplies radically in the next 10 to 15 years, which includes measures, such as EU carbon leakage tax and decarbonisation initiatives with development of green hydrogen industries; the EU needs to implement immediately new physical measures, such as reverse flow capabilities and additional cross-border infrastructure between Member States; the EU needs to apply energy diversification, including by developing the new capacities for LNG imports, energy transition and decarbonisation initiatives, which are rapidly gaining traction and could lessen demand for fossil fuels thereby ending Russia’s energy dominance on the European continent;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c
Paragraph 1 – point c
(c) the EU must have a clear goal and plans on how to cut its dependency on Russian gas and oil, at least while President Putin is in power, in this regard, construction of the “Nord Stream 2” project must be immediately halted;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Amendment 271 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c b (new)
(cb) the EU should impose sanctions in response to the ongoing large-scale conferral of Russian nationality (passportisation) to Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and Crimea as well as for holding electoral procedures in the occupied Crimea;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c c (new)
(c c) the EU should promptly apply its Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime for systemic and serious human rights violations in the temporarily occupied Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c d (new)
(cd) the EU should expand the EU global human rights sanctions regime (EU) and apply it to the grave human rights abuses in Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia to address the human rights violations in Georgia’s territories occupied by the Russian Federation;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c e (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c e (new)
(ce) the EU should encourage its Member States to keep political dialogue with Russia downgraded until it stops its aggressive policy in flagrant violation of norms and principles of international law and the territorial integrity of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine is restored.
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d
Paragraph 1 – point d
(d) the EU should initiate security compacts with EaP countries that have an association agreement with the EU and propose at this stage a new EU integration strategyapproach for Eastern Partners building on former Commission President Romano Prodi’s formula of ‘everything, but the institutions’ that will create a new momentum for the European membership perspective of the associated partners;
Amendment 293 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point d a (new)
(da) the EU should continue to unequivocally condemn Russia’s illegal occupation and annexation of Crimea and the de facto occupation of certain parts of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and support Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders;
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point d b (new)
(db) the EU should urge Russia to uphold its obligation under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and to guarantee the freedom of navigation and transit passage, in particular on the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov; calls for the EU to develop, in close cooperation with Member States and other international partners, the permanent monitoring of the passage of all vessels coming through the Kerch Strait;
Amendment 301 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point d c (new)
(dc) the EU should demand that Russia immediately end all military build-ups, provocations or subversive actions against EaP countries and cease any future such plans;
Amendment 303 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point d d (new)
(dd) the EU should strongly condemn Russia’s violations of international law in occupied Crimea, including the enforcement of Russian legislation, the heavy militarisation of the Crimean peninsula and the massive and systematic human rights violations targeting, in particular, ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars;
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e
Paragraph 1 – point e
(e) the EU should continue its work, together with its EaP partners, on the containment of Russian hybrid threats with instruments able to eliminate Russian hybrid influences fromin the EU and, its Member States and EaP countries;
Amendment 312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e
Paragraph 1 – point e
(e) the EU should continue its work on the containment of Russian hybrid threats with instruments able to eliminate Russian hybrid influterferences from the EU and its Member States;
Amendment 315 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
Amendment 317 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
(ea) the EU has to clean its own house from the Kremlin hybrid interferences and Kremlin’s money laundering practices having an impact on European political and business elites, if it wants to be effective in assisting the Russian people on their path towards democracy;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e b (new)
(eb) the EU should make sure that the security dimension of the Eastern Partnership countries is also properly reflected in the Strategic Compass because the security environment and resilience of the EU cannot be achieved without the long-term security resilience of all Eastern Partnership countries;
Amendment 325 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e b (new)
(eb) the EU needs to have a consolidated, well-coordinated and holistic anti-hybrid containment strategy, which must also address cyber security threats and traditional forms of espionage;
Amendment 327 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e c (new)
(ec) the EU should increase pressure on the Russian Federation in order for it to reverse its decision to recognise the so- called independence of the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia and withdraw its troops from occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea, as well as Transnistria;
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e d (new)
(ed) the EU should boost cooperation with its Eastern Partners and learn from their expertise and experiences in the sphere of hybrid threats, traditional espionage, cyber security and the fight against disinformation; the EU needs to acknowledge that the Eastern Partnership countries possess a unique experience and knowledge of Russia’s interfering strategies and modus operandi, which is of a great value to the EU and its Member States;
Amendment 331 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e e (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e e (new)
(ee) the EU should be alerted by the role Kremlin is playing in the Western Balkans, which includes state-backed disinformation and building political and military ties to the regional political elites; the Kremlin’s interference in the elections and support of anti-democratic forces in the Western Balkan region remains an issue notably in the countries, which are also the members of NATO;
Amendment 332 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e f (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e f (new)
(ef) the EU needs to respond to the fact that the President Putin is openly supporting Mr Lukashenka’s regime in its brutal repressions against the people in Belarus and collaborates with Lukashenka on hybrid attacks against democratic forces of Belarus; President Putin’s support, manipulations and interference in Belarus is the only reason why Mr Lukashenka’s regime still keeps massively repressing Belarusian people; the EU needs to make it clear that this way the Kremlin is posing a direct threat to the sovereignty of Belarus, and has to demand that, if Russia continues this kind of policy on Belarus, the EU will have to introduce additional harsh measures of containment and deterrence of Russia;
Amendment 334 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e h (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e h (new)
(eh) in order to contain President Putin’s revisionist conduct towards his neighbours, the EU needs to further consolidate and strengthen its ties with the Eastern neighbourhood countries and to intensify its work for the rapprochement of these countries with the EU, in particular by taking into account that Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova are showing the same development and integration progress as the Western Balkan countries, therefore the EU needs to explore further areas of cooperation to bring a new momentum for European integration in these countries;
Amendment 339 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e m (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e m (new)
(em) in particular, in this context, the EU should call on the Russian Federation to cooperate fully with the investigation of major international crimes, incidents and tragedies, such as the downing of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, as well other recent incidents involving the participation of the Russian intelligence services in the territory of EU Member States and Eastern Partnership countries, including in Belarus;
Amendment 341 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e n (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e n (new)
(en) the EU should reiterate its call made on numerous occasions upon the Russian authorities to return to Poland the wreckage and black boxes of the Tu- 154 Polish Government aeroplane, which crashed near Smolensk in April 2010;
Amendment 342 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e o (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e o (new)
(eo) the EU should urgently equip itself with the necessary resources and tools to analyse and effectively counter Russian State and non-state actors’ hybrid threats and multiple forms of interferences in our democratic systems, including in the cyberspace;
Amendment 343 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e p (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e p (new)
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e q (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e q (new)
(eq) the EU should establish a regulatory framework to fight the Russian financing of our democratic processes, including the strategy of elite capture and the technique of co-opting top-level civil servants and former European politicians; it should respond to and prevent the funding, by Russian actors, of political parties, political movements and political campaigns;
Amendment 345 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e r (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e r (new)
(er) the EU should fight against Russian state-backed investments in strategic policy areas, strategic infrastructures and bodies, including universities, which risk creating or reinforcing the dependency of certain economic sectors on Russia and can serve as entry points for Russian espionage and security threats;
Amendment 346 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e s (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e s (new)
(es) the EU should deepen comprehensive cooperation with strategic partners who are facing similar hybrids threats and attacks from Russian state and non-state actors;
Amendment 347 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e t (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e t (new)
(et) concerning the fight against harassment, intimidations and attacks against Russian refugees and asylum seekers in Europe, the EU Members States should refrain from allowing or enabling deportations and extraditions of political opponents and asylum seekers to Russia, where their life or physical integrity would be in danger;
Amendment 352 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – point f
(f) the EU should establish with the US a transatlantic alliance to defend democracy globally and propose a democracy defence toolkit, which should include joint actions on sanctions, anti- money laundering policies, rules on the conditionality of economic and financial assistance, international investigations, and support for human rights activists and defenders of democracy; the EU transatlantic agenda should include a policy to support democracy in Russia and Belarus alongside China, Hong Kong and other countries;
Amendment 354 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – point f
(f) the EU should establish with the US a transatlantic alliance to defend democracy globally and propose a democracy defence toolkit, which should include joint actions on sanctions, anti- money laundering policies, rules on the conditionality of economic and financial assistance, international investigations, and support for human rights activists and defenders of democracy, as well as strengthening resilience of European societies as well as of the EU Eastern Partners;
Amendment 357 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – point f
(f) the EU should establish with the US, Canada and UK a transatlantic alliance to defend democracy globally and propose a democracy defence toolkit, which should include joint actions on sanctions, anti- money laundering policies, rules on the conditionality of economic and financial assistance, international investigations, and support for human rights activists and defenders of democracy;
Amendment 362 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
(fa) the EU should deny recognition of any attempt by President Putin to continue in office beyond the end of his current and final presidential mandate on 7 May 2024, should he attempt to do so on the basis of the 2020 constitutional amendments, which the European Parliament has assessed as “illegally enacted”;
Amendment 371 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g
Paragraph 1 – point g
(g) in line with the ‘democracy first’ principle, the EU should strengthen the requirement of conditionality in its relations with Russia by including in any dialogue or agreement with Russia measures aimed ataimed at the full restoration of the EU Eastern Partners’ territorial integrity and measures protecting human rights and the holding of free elections in Russia; accordingly, the EU and its Member States should revise their investment support and economic cooperation projects, starting with the halting of the Nord Stream 2 project;
Amendment 372 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g
Paragraph 1 – point g
(g) in line with the ‘democracy first’ principle, the EU should strengthen the requirement of conditionality in its relations with Russia by including in any dialogue or agreement with Russia measures aimed at protecting human rights, including in the territories illegally occupied by the Russian Federation, and the holding of free elections; accordingly, the EU and its Member States should revise their investment support and economic cooperation projects, starting with the halting of the Nord Stream 2 project;
Amendment 377 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)
(ga) Considers unacceptable the use of false historical arguments to justify the construction of Nord Stream 2; is of the view that such a controversial geopolitical project goes against European solidarity and poses further political, economic, security and environmental risks to Europe, as well as constituting a threat of further direct military action against Ukraine; calls on the German authorities, therefore, to halt their backing of this detrimental project, and appeals to private entities, shareholders and financial investors, in particular Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall, France’s Engie, Austria’s OMV and the Dutch-British Shell, to immediately withdraw from it;
Amendment 378 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)
(ga) the EU should apply the ‘democracy first’ principle in its reassessment of the financial support programmes to Russia and investments in Russia, which among other measures should include a revision of the lending mandates of EU’s financial institutions; in the same spirit, the EU should review its cooperation with Russia in various foreign policy platforms;
Amendment 380 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g b (new)
Amendment 382 #
(gc) the EU should expand the EU global human rights sanctions regime and apply it to the grave human rights abuses in all territories affected by frozen conflicts or occupied regions of the Eastern Partnership countries to address the human rights violations for which the Russian Federation is accountable in accordance with international law;
Amendment 384 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g d (new)
Amendment 395 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h
Paragraph 1 – point h
(h) the EU should increase its ability to prepare and adopt sanctions against the Russian authorities for their systemic repression of democratic forces in Russia and to centralise EU decision-making by making the triggering of sanctions automatic in cases of corruption or violation of human rights, including by updating the EU global sanctions mechanism (EU Magnitsky Act) to address cases of corruption;, possibly by following the example of UK Global Anti- Corruption Sanctions regime
Amendment 405 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i
Paragraph 1 – point i
(i) the EU should establish partnerships on its sanctions policy with EU-based non-governmental organisations such as Bellingcat, so that these organisations can assist it in preparing and investigating cases in a comprehensive way; recommends that the Member States enhance counterintelligence cooperation and information-sharing without delay with a view to exposing and thwarting Russia’s clandestine networks in the EU;
Amendment 408 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
(ia) the EU should deny recognition of any attempt by President Putin to continue in office beyond the end of his current and final presidential mandate on 7 May 2024, should he attempt to do so on the basis of fraudulent 2020 constitutional amendments as concluded by the Venice Commission;
Amendment 409 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
(ia) EU should urge the Russian Federation to address the questions raised by the international community urgently and to provide immediate, full and complete disclosure of its Novichok programme to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons;
Amendment 416 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j
Paragraph 1 – point j
(j) the EU should establish a centralised anti-money laundering framework, including an EU authority for financial controls, to be put under Parliament’s supervision and to be entrusted with the protection of the EU and its Member States from illicit financial practices and influterferences from Russia;
Amendment 417 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point j a (new)
(ja) the EU should create as soon as possible effective legal means to counter trans-border corruption and related money laundering, especially when it concerns corruption and illicit financing practices coming from Russia, and apply much more extensively the non- conviction-based confiscation (NCBC) to deal effectively with the Kremlin kleptocracy;
Amendment 418 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point j b (new)
(jb) the EU should penalize the Russian assets used directly and indirectly to interfere in the democratic processes of EU Member States and Eastern Partnership countries;
Amendment 419 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point j c (new)
(jc) the EU should build capacity to expose and stop the flows of dirty money from Russia and Belarus, as well as to expose the hidden treasures and financial assets of Russian and Belarusian regimes’ autocrats and corrupted oligarchs in the EU Member States, as well as to report periodically on these cases to semi-annual hearings of the European Parliament on the state of democracy in Russia in Belarus; these reports should include the names of the most important members of Putin and Lukashenka entourage, as well as should reveal Russia's financial interferences in Belarus, including in strategic sectors like military, energy or transport;
Amendment 420 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point j d (new)
(jd) the EU must include Russia and Belarus into a list of third countries with a high risk of money laundering, which should be instrumental to have a stronger EU control of all financial flows originating from Russia and Belarus;
Amendment 448 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l
Paragraph 1 – point l
(l) the EU should confront the Russian-language propaganda and disinformation of President Putin’s regime in the EU, the Eastern Partnership and Russia itself and support the establishment of a Free Russia Television with 24/7 airtime;
Amendment 456 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m
Paragraph 1 – point m
(m) the EU must be prepared not to recognise the parliament of Russia and to ask forurge Russia’s suspension from international organisations with parliamentary assemblies, in particular PACE, if the 2021 parliamentary elections in Russia are recognised as fraudulent and conducted in violation of democratic principles and international law;
Amendment 460 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point m a (new)
Amendment 463 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point m b (new)
(mb) the EU Member States should take all possible measures to prevent the participation of their citizens in the capacity of international observers at 2021 parliamentary elections, illegally organized by Russia in the occupied Crimea; in this context recommends that the EP and national parliaments avoid any activities which may falsely pretend to be an international observation;
Amendment 464 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point m c (new)
(mc) the EU should demand that the Russian authorities release all those unjustly imprisoned for political reasons, including Alexei Navalny, Alexei Pichugin, Yuri Dmitriev, and all the others designated by the Memorial Human Rights Centre as “political prisoners” in accordance with the criteria of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Resolution 1900 (2012);
Amendment 465 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point m d (new)
(md) the EU should demand that the Russian authorities conduct an impartial investigation into the organisers and masterminds of the 2015 assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and bring them to justice, in accordance with the recommendations of the OSCE and the Council of Europe;
Amendment 466 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m e (new)
Paragraph 1 – point m e (new)
(me) Is deeply concerned about the efforts of the current Russian leadership to distort historical facts and whitewash crimes committed by the Soviet totalitarian regime and considers them a dangerous component of the information war waged against democratic Europe that aims to divide Europe, and therefore calls on the EU and Member States to decisively counteract these efforts;
Amendment 467 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n
Paragraph 1 – point n
(n) the EU should adopt and announce a strategic vision for its future relations with a democratic Russiaand peaceful Russia fully committed to the international law, its international obligations and principles of good neighbourhood, which should include a broad offer with conditions and incentives such as visa liberalisation, free trade investment and modernisation programmes, and a strategic partnership; it should also convey the potential benefits that it is willing to offer in return for a democratic transformation of Russia and fundamental change of its current foreign policy and international behaviour; in this regard, reiterates that the EU should show full solidarity and work closely with the Russia’s civil society; calls on the EU and the international community to use all available legal tools to prevent attacks against Russia’s opposition politicians and civil activists;
Amendment 500 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o
Paragraph 1 – point o
(o) the EU should adopt an ambitious strategy to support the successful development of European oriented EaP countries, which would serve as a good example and would incentivise the Russian people to support democracy; accordingly, the EU should propose to EaP countries that have an association agreement with the EU a new momentum of European integration towards an eventual membership of the EU and recognize their European perspective with a view to keeping their motivation for further reforms;
Amendment 510 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point o a (new)
(oa) the EU should push for more ambitious strategy for integration of EaP countries that have an association agreement with the EU, especially when they are showing the same level of development and integration as the Western Balkan countries; the EU in such a way will motivate the EU- associated Eastern Partnership countries to enact European inspired reforms;
Amendment 512 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point o b (new)
(ob) the EU should launch as soon as possible a new momentum of European integration, which could concentrate on Romano Prodi formula to offer EaP countries that have an association agreement with the EU an ‘everything, but the institutions’ model and give them the full benefits of EU integration, such as access to EU common policies, the opening of EU financial resources, access to EU jurisdiction, and a progressive integration into the EU institutions;
Amendment 514 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point o c (new)
(oc) the EU should propose in the forthcoming Conference on the Future of Europe an institutional reform agenda, which would allow the EU to prepare for a new momentum of European integration of the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood;