2021/2042(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)

— having regard to the conclusions of the European Council of 24 and 25 May 2021 on Russia,

Amendment 100 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas the European Parliament, on numerous occasions, has expressed its concern over the state of democracy, the systematic failure to uphold the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights and principles, the shrinking space for independent and dissident actors, and the attack on media freedom in Russia; whereas the Russian authorities are creating an atmosphere of fear through the current crackdown on opposition, civil society and any critical voices, in light of the upcoming Duma elections in September 2021;

Amendment 101 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas, according to the Memorial Human Rights Centre, nearly 400 political prisoners are currently imprisoned in Russia; whereas the imprisonment of political prisoners violates the obligations of the Russian Federation 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 Europe1a; _________________ 1ahttps://memohrc.org/ru/pzk-list; https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th- congress/house-resolution/958/text

Amendment 102 #

Ba. whereas, according to the Memorial Human Rights Centre, the Russian authorities currently hold nearly 400 political prisoners in violation of 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 103 #

Motion for a resolution
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 104 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)

Bb. whereas the Russian Constitutional Amendments of 2020 includes the possibility for President Putin to serve two more terms as President from 2024; whereas the vote on the Amendment violated both Russian law and the Russian Federation’s OSCE obligations; whereas the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) deemed the whole procedure of the adoption of the amendments as “clearly inappropriate”1a; _________________ 1a https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/docu ments/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL- AD(2021)005-e

Amendment 105 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)

Bb. 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 Russian Federation's OSCE obligations, and that the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) has assessed as 'clearly inappropriate';

Amendment 106 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)

Bc. whereas the individuals responsible for the assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov have neither been identified nor brought to justice; whereas the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly’s report notes that a full investigation into the assassination “would be a first step to address the climate of impunity” in Russia1a; _________________ 1a https://www.oscepa.org/en/documents/offi cers-of-the-assembly/margareta-cederfelt- sweden/3971-the-nemtsov-murder-and- rule-of-law-in-russia-report-by-osce-pa- vice-president-margareta-cederfelt-20- february-2020/file

Amendment 107 #

Motion for a resolution
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 108 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)

Bd. whereas the Russian government has accelerated its years-long campaign to stamp out civil society and an independent press, threatening organisations such as Meduza, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, VTimes, For Human Rights, and Open Russia with onerous legislative, regulatory, and bureaucratic burdens, choking off access to all sources of funding beyond the control of the government and its allies, tarring them with epithets such as 'foreign agent' or 'undesirable' that serve to discredit these groups and the high journalistic and human rights principles they represent, without which Russia cannot be democratic, prosperous, and free;

Amendment 109 #

Motion for a resolution
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 11 #

Motion for a resolution
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 110 #

Motion for a resolution
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)

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 112 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

Amendment 113 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

Amendment 114 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

Amendment 115 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

Amendment 116 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

Amendment 117 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas these domestic developments are a warning to the EU of what may come in the preparation and in the aftermath of the September 2021 parliamentary elections in Russia, when Mr Putin, in the same manner as Mr Lukashenko in Belarus, is waging a war against the people of Russia Russian people are sovereign and whereas, in keeping with the democratic framework it has enjoyed since 1991, its choices must be respected and protected from foreign interference;

Amendment 118 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas these domestic developments are a warning to the EU of what may come in the preparation and in the aftermath of the September 2021 parliamentary elections in Russia, when Mr Putin, in the same manner as Mr Lukashenko in Belarus, ~~is waging a war against the people of Russia~~could engage further in repression of the political opposition in Russia, including severe human rights violations;

Amendment 119 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

C. whereas these domestic developments are a warning to the EU of what may come in the preparation and in the aftermath of the September 2021 parliamentary elections in Russia, when Mr Putin, in the same manner as Mr Lukashenko in Belarus, is waging a war against the people of Russiaforeshadow possible further deteriorations around the September 2021 parliamentary elections in Russia, similar to the developments in Belarus;

Amendment 12 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)

-A. whereas the European Parliament distinguishes - the Russian people and the Putin’s regime - and critical actions proposed in this report are directed towards the Putin’s regime, while stressing the urgent need to reach out to the Russian people and show that the EU is welcoming to them;

Amendment 120 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C

Amendment 121 #

Motion for a resolution
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 122 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA

Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas all democratic parties should have equal access and equal chances during the upcoming Duma elections, as non-registration of parties is an abuse of registration procedure to destroy political competition and pluralist democracy; whereas, in contradiction to constitutional guarantees, the State Duma has adopted a ban on running for office for individuals linked to so-called extremist organisations;

Amendment 123 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas the EU and Russia have longstanding trade relations, the EU is the largest trading partner for Russia, while Russia is the fifth largest trading partner for the EU, and the EU is the largest investor in Russia; whereas the EU is dependent on Russian gas and oil imports, which will further increase should the Nord Stream 2 project be completed;

Amendment 124 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)

Ca. whereas Russia has repeatedly violated international law, its international commitments and the European security order, including the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and the 1990 OSCE Charter of Paris; whereas Russia's actions have hindered good neighbourly relations;

Amendment 125 #

Motion for a resolution
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 126 #

Cb. whereas opportunities for impartial election observation have been shrinking steadily in Russia over the past decade, as the absence of provisions for direct accreditation of election observing citizens forces them to act on behalf of contestants or media and therefore contradicts the very idea of independent election scrutiny by civil society, and is also at odds with international standards; whereas various other restrictions introduced on the eve of the 2021 parliamentary election campaign pose further organizational, administrative, and logistical challenges;

Amendment 127 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU, Christophe GRUDLER

Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)

Cb. whereas Russia ranks 120 out of 180 countries in the 2020 Corruption Perception Index, as massive state-level corruption prevents Russian population from quality public services, which remain underfunded, including the public health care, which is of particular importance during the pandemic; whereas nearly 19 million of Russians live under the poverty line;

Amendment 128 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)

Cb. whereas the Russian Federation has established new military bases and modernized old military bases in the North of the country; whereas Russia has upgraded its Northern Fleet to the status of a military district, scaled up different branches of its armed forces and revived the bastion defence concept aimed at protecting Russia’s strategic capabilities;

Amendment 129 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)

Cc. 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 Venice Commission has assessed as clearly inappropriate;

Amendment 13 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)

-A. whereas Russia is an integral part of Europe and the biggest neighbour of European Union and the developments in Russia, its policies and character of its authorities are directly affecting EU’s immediate neighbourhood;

Amendment 130 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)

Cc. whereas the Russian Government has approved a list of “unfriendly countries”, which includes Czechia and the United States;

Amendment 131 #

Motion for a resolution
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 132 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas in its resolutions of 17 September 2020, 21 January 2021 and 29 April 2021 Parliament called 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;

Amendment 133 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas in its resolutions of 17 September 2020, 21 January 2021 and 29 April 2021 Parliament called 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 (or lack thereof) 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; and in adherence to the EU's own values and principles;

Amendment 134 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas in its resolutions of 17 September 2020, 21 January 2021 and 29 April 2021 Parliament called for a review of the EU’s policy vis-à-vis Russia, including the five guiding principles agreed in 2016, emphasiseding 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;

Amendment 135 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)

Da. whereas the European Parliament has also asked the Council to immediately start preparations and adopt an EU strategy for future relations with a democratic Russia, including a broad offer of incentives and conditions to strengthen domestic tendencies towards freedom and democracy;

Amendment 136 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas the five EU guiding principles for relations with Russia have deterred the Kremlin regime from further aggression against Ukraine, but they are silent with respect to containing President Putin’s war against the people of Russia;deleted

Amendment 137 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas the five EU guiding principles for relations with Russia ~~have deterred the Kremlin regime from further aggression against Ukraine, but they are silent with respect to containing President Putin’~~remain valid but must be paired with an actual strategy on how to achieve the EU’s goals in relations with Russia, including inter alia deterring the Kremlin from further aggression against Ukraine and containing its war against the people of Russia;

Amendment 138 #

E. whereas the five EU guiding principles for relations with Russia ~~have deterred~~contribute to containing the Kremlin regime from ~~further~~extension of direct aggression against Ukraine, ~~but~~while they ~~are silent with respect~~need to be further strengthened, in particular complemented to contain~~ing~~ President Putin’s war against the people of Russia;

Amendment 139 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas ~~the five EU guiding principles for relations with Russia have deterred the Kremlin regime from further aggression against Ukraine, but they are silent wi~~both the EU and Russia adopted key policy documents regarding their relation in 2016; whereas confrontation has continued, including regarding Ukraine; whereas both sides have the resp~~ect to containing President Putin’s war against the people of Russia~~onsibility to come up with a solution to this confrontation based on political dialogue;

Amendment 14 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A

-A. whereas the Union's relations with the Russian Federation must be based on the principles of international law, democracy and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, and whereas the current Russian government has shown contempt for these principles;

Amendment 140 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas the five EU guiding principles for relations with Russia have helped to deter~~red~~ the Kremlin regime from further aggression against Ukraine, but they ~~are silent with respect to containing~~do not address President Putin’s war against the people of Russia nor the Kremlin's broader destabilising activities;

Amendment 141 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas the five EU guiding principles for relations with Russia have deterred the Kremlin regime from further aggression against Ukraine~~, but they are silent with respect to containing President Putin’s war against the people of Russia~~ and act as a functional framework;

Amendment 142 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas the five EU guiding principles for relations with Russia have ~~deterred the Kremlin regime from further aggression against Ukraine, but they are silent with respect to containing~~to some extent influenced Russia's approach to the conflict in Ukraine, but have had minimal real impact on Russia's internal political circumstances and on President Vladimir Putin’'s ~~war against the people of Russia~~position and decisions;

Amendment 143 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

Amendment 144 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

Amendment 145 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence on the Eastern Flank has played a crucial deterrence role in the face of Russian destabilising activities, including military build-up in the Western Military District);

Amendment 146 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the new EU strategy should 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 de~~fending human rights and~~veloping a number of policy priorities as well as different scenarios that will take into account a range of possible developments in EU-Russia relations, and within Russia itself, including assisting Russia’s possible transformation into a democracy ~~in accordance with the principle of ‘democracy first’~~, or in turn responding to a more repressive and revanchist turn in the Kremlin's policies;

Amendment 147 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

Amendment 148 #

Motion for a resolution
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 149 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the ~~new EU strategy should be centred on the ‘push-back, contain and engage’ principles aimed at strengthening the EU’s capacity to combat the Kremlin’s threat~~EU must work towards the establishment of a new framework for relations agreed with Russia; whereas third countries affected by these relations, especially in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) ~~region, including Belar~~mus,t a~~s 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’~~lso be taken into consideration for the establishment of this new framework;

Amendment 15 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)

-Aa. whereas Russia is an authoritarian state run by President Vladimir Putin and his loyalists, in which there are no free and fair elections, both the State Duma and the Council of the Federation are submissive to Mr Putin’s orders, opposition forces are under constant intimidation and threat, which includes searches of their offices, arrests and imprisonment sentences, assassination attempts and actual killings;

Amendment 150 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the new EU strategy should ~~be centred on the~~take into account the necessity to ‘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’and therefore provide for clear responses to Russia’s infringements of international law and human rights and for effective instruments against Russia’s interference and disinformation, where necessary, and for selective engagement where possible;

Amendment 151 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F

F. whereas the ~~new~~updated EU strategy should be ~~centred on the ‘push-back, contain and engage’ principles aim~~further centred aton 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 152 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

Fa. whereas Russia is mobilising its infrastructure and increasing its military presence rapidly in the Arctic by rebuilding its military capabilities; whereas Russia is refurbishing Soviet-era airfields and radar installations, constructing new ports and search-and- rescue centres, and building up its fleet of nuclear- and conventionally-powered icebreakers; whereas Russia is developing new high-tech weapons and a nuclear reactor powered torpedo;

Amendment 153 #

Motion for a resolution
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 154 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

Fa. whereas the EU’s overarching key objective should be to shape relations with the Russian Federation in such a way that peace, stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in the EU and in the EU neighbourhood are preserved, international law is respected, human rights and the rule of law remain our guiding principles, and the possibility remains for collaborating to solve common problems;

Amendment 155 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

Fa. whereas Russian authorities used the pandemic as a pretext to continue the crackdown on all dissent, including through amendments to a vaguely worded law on “fake news” and tightening restrictions on public gatherings; whereas peaceful protesters, human rights defenders and civic and political activists faced arrest, and prosecution and torture remained endemic, as did a nearly total impunity for perpetrators;

Amendment 156 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

Fa. whereas there is growing concern in the world about Russia's involvement in several international and national conflicts and there is a need for the European Union and the Russian Federation to find common ground, healthy and balanced relations, where their interests converge;

Amendment 157 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

Fa. whereas the democratic transformation of Russia is a major geopolitical security interest of the EU, since democracies are not fighting each other and President Putin’s Russia remains the biggest challenge for European security;

Amendment 158 #

Motion for a resolution
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 159 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)

Fb. whereas the latest developments in Russia have shown that the EU’s strategy on Russia needs to be much more proactive and have a clear-defined ‘engagement’ objective, which should focus not only on traditional so-called ‘selective’ engagement with the Kremlin, but rather on a ‘strategic’ engagement with the civil society of Russia to assist in the transformation of Russia towards democracy;

Amendment 16 #

Motion for a resolution
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 160 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)

Fb. whereas the current confrontation between the EU and the government of the Russian Federation is not in the interests of either party and whereas this confrontation jeopardizes peace and stability of the entire European continent;

Amendment 161 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)

Fc. whereas a constructive relationship would still be in the interests of both parties and their peoples, although a constructive dialogue with the Russian authorities will require closer cooperation and unity between the Member States and more strength and firmness in its response to any provocation and aggression from Moscow;

Amendment 162 #

Andrius KUBILIUS

Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)

Fc. whereas the EU must promote democracy and its principles globally at the same level of priorities, as it does with a global fight against climate change or nuclear disarmament;

Amendment 163 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital F d (new)

Fd. whereas a successful, prosperous and democratic EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood is considered by the Kremlin as a threat to the stability of President Putin’s regime, because it may provide ‘soft power’ inspiration to ordinary people in Russia; whereas the democratisation of the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood, therefore, has crucial importance for the future democratisation of Russia; whereas the Kremlin’s true aim regarding the conflicts in this region is not to back particular sides or personalities but rather to delegitimise democratic change as a means of transferring power, to prevent the successful development of these states, to discredit liberal democracy, and to export Russia’s own system of power;

Amendment 164 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F d (new)

Fd. whereas the EU must remain open to a dialogue and a reinforced relationship and would be prepared to return to relations based on cooperation with Russia if the Russian authorities fully respected their legal and international obligations and demonstrated in practice their commitment to restoring the trust that has been broken;

Amendment 165 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital F e (new)

Fe. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should support Russia on its path towards a democratic European type of country by (1) pushing back and adopting targeted sanctions on those within and close to the Kremlin, who are ready to steal or bribe elections or commit other major crimes against human rights and democracy values, both inside Russia and with tentacles in EU immediate neighbourhood, (2) making a success out of the Eastern Partnership countries by means of an ambitious EU integration policy and by developing the EU’s strategic responsibility and geopolitical leadership capacities needed for the implementation of such policies; this will inspire ordinary Russian people to seek democratic transformation of Russia, and (3) having a strategy of engagement with the pro-democratic society of Russia and setting out a path for future relations with Democratic Russia;

Amendment 166 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F e (new)

Fe. whereas any new framework for relations between the EU and the Russian Federation must be based on full respect for international law and the founding principles of the OSCE;

Amendment 167 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital F f (new)

Ff. whereas one of the major challenges for EU will be to keep united strategy towards Russia, since Russia's policy towards the EU has for a long time been characterised by the will to side-line European institutions in favour of bilateral relations, attempt to add to EU- internal divisions and support the mostly right-wing nationalist anti-European parties and movements;

Amendment 168 #

Motion for a resolution
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 169 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should be based on the assumption that Mr Putin will not change, but the people of Russia can transform their country into a democracy; if Ukrainians and Belarusians are ready to risk their lives for the sake of democracy and justice at home, - Russian people are not different;

Amendment 17 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital –A a (new)

-Aa. whereas the Russian Federation has committed itself to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and human rights through its membership of the Council of Europe and the OSCE;

Amendment 170 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas the EU should seek a long-term strategy on Russia ~~should be~~, based on the assumption that the people of Russia can transform their country into a democracy; whereas such a strategy must be able to deter threats and challenges posed by Russia today;

Amendment 171 #

Motion for a resolution
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 172 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G

G. whereas the ~~EU strategy on Russia should be based on the assumption that the people of Russia can transf~~new framework of relations between the EU and Russia must aim to tackle the deficits of democracy on both sides, inter alia, growing inequality, women's rights, LGBTI rights, orm the~~ir country into a democracy;~~ rise of far right and xenophobic forces;

Amendment 173 #

Motion for a resolution
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~~decide independently and without influence from the EU and the US on the nature and political order of their state;

Amendment 174 #

Motion for a resolution
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~~have support for freedom and democracy at its heart;

Amendment 175 #

Emmanouil FRAGKOS, Thierry MARIANI

Motion for a resolution
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 176 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)

Ga. whereas the sanctions policy has succeeded in replacing a significant part of the Euro-Russian trade with imports from third countries;

Amendment 177 #

Motion for a resolution
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)

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 179 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should work in the interest of the EU and offer Russia a constructive dialogue aimed at promoting the values of human rights and democracy; and ensure that any future strengthening of bilateral relations is dependent on the Russian Federation's fulfilment of its own commitments to human rights and democracy in accordance with its constitution and internal agreements;

Amendment 18 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital –A b (new)

-Ab. whereas the EU is Russia's largest trading partner, while Russia is the EU's fifth largest trading partner;

Amendment 180 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas divergent EU member state positions and political considerations related to Russia’s perceived strategic and economic importance to Europe have prevented the elaboration of a coordinated approach to Russia; whereas the EU strategy on Russia should work in the interest of the EU and offer Russia a constructive dialogue aimed at promoting the values of human rights and democracy;

Amendment 181 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should ~~work in the inter~~aim to pursue dialogue with a view to promoting the valuest of ~~the EU and offer Russia a constructive dialogue aimed at promoting the values of human rights and democracy~~human rights and democracy, increasing prosperity, security and stability in Europe and jointly addressing global challenges while preventing Russia from obstructing effective multilateral cooperation and continuing to seek confrontation;

Amendment 182 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should work in the interest of the EU and offer Russia a constructive dialogue aimed at engaging in areas of common interest, such as climate policy or counter- terrorism, while at the same time promoting the values of human rights and democracy;

Amendment 183 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should work in the interest of the EU ~~and offer Russia a constructive dialogue aimed at promoting the values of human rights and democracy~~to de- escalate the current tensions and work on building mutually advantageous relations and cooperation between the EU and Russia based on respect for international law and human rights;

Amendment 184 #

H. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should work in the interest of the EU and ~~offer Russia a constructive dialogue aimed at promoting the values of human rights and democracy~~promote the values of human rights and democracy; whereas it is in the interest of the EU and its Member States to act unilaterally and to be firm in their expectations towards Russia;

Amendment 185 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should work in the interest of the EU and ~~offer Russia a constructive dialogue aimed at~~keep the option of a critical dialogue open with a view to tackling strategic challenges on the global level while reaffirming and promoting the values of human rights and democracy;

Amendment 186 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should work in the interest of the EU and ~~offer~~prompt 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 187 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should work in the security interest of the EU and additionally offer Russia a constructive dialogue aimed at promoting the values of human rights and democracy;

Amendment 188 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H

H. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should work in the interest of the EU and offer Russia a constructive dialogue aimed at promoting the values of human rights, rule of law, and democracy;

Amendment 189 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Ha. whereas despite diversification efforts, about 40% of EU gas imports and 30% of oil imports still come from the Russian Federation, and some Member States remain overwhelmingly dependent on Russian gas, cemented by the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is a move in the wrong direction from a geopolitical, energy independence and political solidarity point of view;

Amendment 19 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A b (new)

-Ab. whereas Mr Putin’s 20 years-long ruling has been possible only through manipulation of the Russian Constitution; whereas the latest constitutional reforms enacted in July 2020 during the COVID- 19 pandemic – including an amendment giving President Putin a waiver from presidential term-limits in 2024 – avoided full referendum procedures, violated both Russian law and the Russian Federation’s OSCE obligations, and were assessed by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) as “clearly inappropriate” and, according to Russian statisticians, were adopted by means of probably the most fraudulent vote in Russian history;

Amendment 190 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas the Kremlin regime is engaging in massive disinformation and fake news campaigns against European Member States and the European Union, which, on one hand, represents an attack on democracy and European values and, on the other hand, has had an impact on the EU’s ability to combat the COVID pandemic and has costed countless lives;

Amendment 191 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas the EU strategy on Russia should focus on joint progress of common security, disarmament and arms control, the climate crisis, sustainability, energy and the fight against pandemics;

Amendment 192 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas the Russian administration continues to stockpile offensive weapons and troops in the closest vicinity of the EU borders, in the Kaliningrad enclave;

Amendment 193 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas the role of the EU as a global actor and the foreign policy competences of the EU institutions should be strengthened;

Amendment 194 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)

Ha. whereas Russia has escalated hybrid warfare activities against EU Member States and its neighbours;

Amendment 195 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)

Hb. whereas European gas consumption has peaked and the capacity of the current Nord Stream pipeline is not fully used at the moment; whereas the divisive decision by some Member States to build Nord Stream 2 is incompatible with the values of solidarity and trust of the Energy Union; whereas Nord Stream 2 is incompatible with the goals of the European Green Deal of reducing EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050;

Amendment 196 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)

Hb. whereas it is in the Union's interest to strengthen the strategic, democratic and social progress of its eastern neighbourhood;

Amendment 197 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)

Hc. whereas the collapse of arms control with Russia (withdrawals from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, from the Treaty on Open Skies) and the lack of progress on nuclear disarmament under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, as well as Russia's rejection of the new treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is of great concern for the security of European citizens; whereas this is coupled with a dangerous modernisation of Russian nuclear and conventional arsenals and their means of delivery and the introduction of destabilizing technologies (hypersonic nuclear-capable missiles, torpedoes, etc.);

Amendment 198 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)

-1. Affirms that the European Union must adopt a firmer and more forceful overall strategy towards the Russian authorities and that its Member States must unify their approaches towards Russia in order to strike a balance between firmness and openness to dialogue on issues of common interest;

Amendment 199 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 a (new)

-1a. Stresses that the EU's foreign and security policy approach towards the Russian authorities requires greater coordination and coherence, in particular in strategic areas such as the European Defence Union, the European Energy Union, cyber defence, cyber terrorism and strategic communication tools;

Amendment 2 #

Motion for a resolution
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 20 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A b (new)

-Ab. whereas the EU believes in a different future that Russia can have, with its people aspiring to the universal values of freedom and democracy;

Amendment 200 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 b (new)

-1b. Recalls that HR/VP Josep Borrell outlined, after his visit to Moscow, the contours of a new strategy that the European Union should adopt towards Russia based on three pillars: retaliation, pressure and dialogue, and that it would be useful to identify the best tools to transform this vision into concrete policies;

Amendment 201 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 c (new)

-1c. Is aware that the revanchism of the current government and its nostalgia for the Soviet borders are fuelling the mistrust of the countries formerly under the yoke of the Soviet Union, which, as members of the EU, would reluctantly consider any premature official dialogue with the Kremlin;

Amendment 202 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 d (new)

-1d. Deplores the fact that the Russian authorities are tending to lock themselves into a privileged partnership with China, which can only weaken the Russian Federation and the entire European continent and, in particular, enable the Beijing authorities to expand their presence and influence in Central Asia and Siberia;

Amendment 203 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 e (new)

-1e. Stresses that it is nevertheless necessary to keep the channels of communication open with Russia, and in particular to promote dialogue in multilateral forums, notably the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Arctic Council or the Council of Europe;

Amendment 204 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – introductory part

1. Recommends that the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) review, together with the Member States, the EU policy vis-à-vis Russia, including the five guiding principles, and develop a comprehensive EU strategy towards Russia, adopting a more vocal, flexible and coordinated approach, based on the following principles and actions:

Amendment 205 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – introductory part

1. Recommends that the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) review, together with the Member States, the EU policy vis-à-vis ~~Russia~~the current regime of the Russian Federation, including the five guiding principles, and develop a comprehensive EU strategy towards Russia based on the following principles and actions:

Amendment 206 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – introductory part

1. Recommends that the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) review, together with the Member States, the EU policy vis-à-vis Russia, ~~including the five guiding principles, and develop a comprehensive EU strategy towards Russia based on the following principles and act~~and develop together with Russia a comprehensive framework to de-escalate current tensions:

Amendment 207 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – introductory part

1. Recommends that the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) review, together with the Member States, the EU policy vis-à-vis Russia~~, including the five guiding principles,~~ and develop a comprehensive EU strategy towards Russia based on the current five guiding principles and the following principles and actions:

Amendment 208 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point -a (new)

(-a) the EU must fundamentally reform its foreign policy in order to credibly demonstrate that it is capable of decision-making and taking action in the field of foreign policy, including by extending the competencies of the European External Action Service (EEAS) and foreseeing a different role for the VP/HR, characterized by more autonomy and clear responsibilities, the abolition of unanimity in foreign-policy matters, clearer communication and leadership by Member States, while safeguarding unity and intra-European solidarity;

Amendment 209 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point -a (new)

(-a) the EU should signal clear alternative paths for future relations with Russia with punitive measures if it continues its lawless behaviour and wide- ranging cooperation if it rejoins the group of law-abiding countries, by developing effective instruments to defend the EU while at the same time outlining more appealing incentives for Russia; underlines that the EU shall refrain from pursuing cooperation with Russia only for the sake of maintaining dialogue channels open;

Amendment 21 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital –A c (new)

-Ac. whereas the current Russian regime is stirring up animosity and mistrust in Russian civil society towards foreigners, particularly Europeans, and conveying the image of the West as an enemy, and whereas this misinformation has become the cultural and political foundation of the policy of Russian authorities, which are losing economic and social credibility and deepening the rupture between Russia and Europe;

Amendment 210 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point -a (new)

(-a) the EU should gradually restart political dialogue: sanctions on parliamentarians should be lifted to allow interparliamentary dialogue, and dialogue on governmental dialogue must begin through dialogue at ministerial level in order to build mutual trust and identify key priorities for the future of EU-Russia relations;

Amendment 211 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point -a a (new)

(-a a) the Member States must coordinate better among themselves in order to have a common approach towards Russia and stop the current practice of diverging national initiatives, because credible EU action will need consistent unity as a basis;

Amendment 212 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point -a b (new)

(-a b) the EU must focus on saving its credibility concerning its value-oriented behaviour internally, by upholding the rule of law and fundamental rights much more directly and honestly, as police violence, antiquated criminal laws, and resistance to gender equality and diversity in some Member States damage its reputation and credibility abroad; the EU must also communicate comparable expectations vis-à-vis all partners, by denouncing violations of international law, consistently taking harsh consequential measures, and refraining from measuring with double standards;

Amendment 213 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point -a c (new)

(-ac) the EU must react resolutely to Russia’s provocations and recent activities that threaten security and stability in the EU, pushing back against Russia's geopolitical ambitions, in particular by raising costs for military actions in third countries, including actions by proxies and mercenaries;

Amendment 214 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 1

Deterring the Russian threat ~~– pushing back against the security threat~~

Amendment 215 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 1

De~~terring the Russian threat – pushing back against the security threa~~-escalation of tensions on the European continent

Amendment 216 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) the EU, together with NATO and international partners, should deter Russia and keep peace and stability in ~~the EaP region~~Europe by pressing Russia ~~not to interfere in the region and to~~to cease its destabilising activities against the transatlantic space, to refrain from interfering in the countries of the Eastern neighbourhood, including by return ~~the~~ing occupied territories in the ~~EU’s Eastern neighbourhood~~region, as well as to stop its destabilising activities in the Southern Neighbourhood, particularly in Syria and Libya;

Amendment 217 #

Motion for a resolution
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 ~~region~~those 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 218 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) the EU, together with NATO and international partners, should deter Russia and keep stability in the EaP region by taking a more active role in the peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflicts and in the prevention of any future conflicts, by pressing Russia not to interfere in the region and to return the occupied territories in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood;

Amendment 219 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) the EU, together with ~~NATO and~~ international partners, should ~~deter~~accept Russia and keep stability in the ~~EaP~~ region ~~by pressing Russia not to interfere in the region and to return the occupied territories in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood~~;

Amendment 22 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A c (new)

-Ac. whereas the Freedom in the World 2021 report placed Russia in the category of ‘not free’ countries; whereas citizens’ fundamental freedoms are limited in Russia the election environment is controlled, Russian people are discouraged from public protests by the burdensome bureaucratic procedures established in order for citizens to receive a permission and by police violence during peaceful protests;

Amendment 220 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) the EU, together with NATO and international partners, should deter Russia ~~and~~in order to keep stability in ~~the EaP region~~Europe and beyond, including by strengthening its own defence capabilities and by pressing Russia not to interfere in the region and to return the occupied territories in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood;

Amendment 221 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) the EU, together with NATO and international partners, should engage in diplomatic and strategic efforts in order to deter Russia and keep stability in the EaP region by pressing Russia not to interfere in the region and to ~~return~~withdraw from the occupied territories in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood;

Amendment 222 #

Motion for a resolution
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 region and to return the occupied and illegally annexed territories in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood;

Amendment 223 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) the EU, together with ~~NATO and~~its international partners, should ~~deter Russia and~~ keep stability in the EaP region by p~~ressing Russia not to interfere in the region and to return the occupied territories in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood~~ursuing a long term strategy of cooperation with Russia instead of a confrontational one;

Amendment 224 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
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 Russian authorities not to interfere in the region and to return the occupied territories in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood;

Amendment 225 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) the EU, should work together with NATO and international partners, should deter Russia and keep stability in the EaP region by pressing Russia not to interfere in the region and to return the occupied territories in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhoodRussia to de-escalate ongoing military tensions in the EaP region by conducting a pan-European negotiation to solve existing territorial conflicts and promote disarmament;

Amendment 226 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a

(a) the E~~U, together with NATO and international partners, should deter Russia and keep stability in the EaP region by pressing~~uropean Union, while respecting the interests of nation states, should break free from NATO’s tutelage in order to pursue a policy of dialogue with Russia n, both to i~~nterfere in the region and to return the occupied territories in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood~~ts benefit and to that of the members of the Eastern Partnership, who should not be instrumentalised by those harking back nostalgically to the Cold War;

Amendment 227 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)

(aa) disarmament, cooperation and confidence building were the pillars of the policy of détente. The principles of non- violence and the peaceful coexistence of two different systems formed the basis for this kind of policy. The formula was "change through rapprochement". These experiences show that the EU needs a new approach to establishing peaceful and cooperative relations with Russia. The best solution would be a strategy of pragmatic cooperation based on common interests. A re-militarisation of EU-Russia relations endangers peace and a confrontational strategy threatens a new arms race;

Amendment 228 #

Motion for a resolution
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 229 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)

(aa) the EU should engage in negotiations on nuclear disarmament, arms reduction and arms control aiming at reducing nuclear detonation risk for the European continent, through reciprocal regional disarmament steps by Russia and EU countries, with Russia's entire nuclear arsenal and their means of delivery subject to reduction and elimination within a broader context, which would also include French, British, US and Chinese arsenals;

Amendment 23 #

Motion for a resolution
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 230 #

Motion for a resolution
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 231 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)

(aa) the EU should support the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including through the provision of military aid packages, which may consist of both financial and military assistance; the EU could coordinate the provision of military aid packages with international partners, including the United States;

Amendment 232 #

Emmanouil FRAGKOS, Thierry MARIANI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)

(aa) the EU should encourage the withdrawal of NATO troops from Europe as a first step for de-escalation, and work on increased transparency on military and border guard activities in the context of regional de-militarisation;

Amendment 233 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)

(aa) the EU should avoid the creation of an anti-European convergence of the eastern countries, by disengaging from political obsessions;

Amendment 234 #

Motion for a resolution
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)

(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 236 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)

(ab) with regard to the fact that Russia regularly breaks international law and thus strains relations with the EU and its neighbouring states, the EU must, despite all necessary criticism, focus on dialogue and cooperation. Peace in Europe cannot be achieved against, but only with Russia;

Amendment 237 #

Motion for a resolution
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 238 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a c (new)

(ac) A dialogue with Russia must pursue the goal of analysing the security interests of involved actors and creating a system of collective security in Europe. A constructive readiness for dialogue on the part of Russia is a prerequisite for working on the reduction of tensions;

Amendment 239 #

Motion for a resolution
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 24 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A d (new)

-Ad. 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 240 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a d (new)

(ad) In peace and security policy issues, OSCE is an important framework for discussion. With reference to the values and principles of OSCE, the EU must pursue the goal of a new European Eastern policy that focuses on a common and coherent EU policy towards Russia;

Amendment 241 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a e (new)

(ae) the EU should consider launching a series of security compacts – frameworks for increased security, military, intelligence, and cyber cooperation – with select friendly countries in the EU’s neighbourhood and start investing in military and security partnerships with countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia; the EU needs to involve strong security partners in its neighbourhood and should not see security coordination with these countries only through the prism of NATO enlargement; the EU in its security dialogue with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova should be ambitious, take into account its assessment of the security challenges on the ground, and coordinate the Member States’ military support to Ukraine and, if necessary, to the remaining Eastern Partnership countries with the provision of defensive weapons, in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter that allows individual and collective self- defence;

Amendment 242 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b

(b) the EU should be ready to call for the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT payment system ~~if the Russian authorities continue their~~only in the event that allegations of aggressive threats and military action against EU Member States and EaP neighbouring ~~countries~~states are proven to be credible; it should be pointed out that the testimonies of a small group of anti- government activists, funded by various foreign organisations, who have long sought to destabilise and disrupt the EU Member States, Russia and the EaP countries, are not considered credible;

Amendment 243 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b

(b) the EU should ~~be ready to call for the exclusion of~~ensure cooperation with Russia ~~from~~in the ~~SWIFT payment system if the Russian authorities continue their aggressive threats and military action against EU Member States and EaP neighbouring countries~~fields of trade and investment, and work towards the lifting of sanctions which have damaged the productive sectors of both sides; the improvement of EU-Russia connectivity is also an important opportunity to increase investments and ensure economic development for both sides, which must be promoted;

Amendment 244 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b

(b) the EU should be ready to call for the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT payment system if the Russian authorities continue their aggressive threats and military action against EU Member States and EaP neighbouring countriesconsiders that the repetition of threats, sanctions and provocations against Russia has not produced any beneficial effects either for the Member States or for the members of the Eastern Partnership;

Amendment 245 #

Motion for a resolution
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 246 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b

(b) the EU should use its leverage and be ready to call for the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT payment system ~~if the~~to deter Russian authorities ~~continue~~ to engage in furtheir aggressive ~~threats~~behaviour and military action against EU Member States and EaP neighbouring countries;

Amendment 247 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b

(b) the EU should be ready to ~~call for~~initiate the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT payment system if the Russian authorities ~~continu~~does not cease their aggressive threats and military action against EU Member States and EaP neighbouring countries;

Amendment 248 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b

(b) the EU should be ready to call for the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT payment system if the Russian authorities continue their aggressive threats ~~and military action~~ against EU Member States and military action against EaP neighbouring countries;

Amendment 249 #

Motion for a resolution
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 25 #

Motion for a resolution
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 250 #

Motion for a resolution
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;~~deleted

Amendment 251 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA

Motion for a resolution
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 252 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c

(c) the EU must ~~have a clear goal and plans on how to cut its~~work towards the implementation of the European Green Deal and reduced dependency on Russian gas and oil, at least while President Putin is in power; the Nord Stream 2 threatens to increase this dependency, as well as finances Russian expansionism in neighbouring states;

Amendment 253 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c

(c) the EU must ~~have a clear goal and plan~~represent the interests of the Member States oin ~~how to cut its dependency on Russian gas and oil, at least whil~~their search for energy independence and diversification of their sources of supply without facing threats or blackmail such as those Pre~~sident Put~~cently formulated by the US admin is ~~in power~~tration against participants in the Nord Stream 2 project;

Amendment 254 #

Motion for a resolution
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 255 #

Motion for a resolution
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 the Nord Stream 2 project should be terminated immediately;

Amendment 256 #

Motion for a resolution
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, including, by immediately halting the construction of Nord Stream 2;

Amendment 257 #

Motion for a resolution
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, therefore the completion of Nord Stream 2 pipeline must be stopped;

Amendment 258 #

Motion for a resolution
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 and other raw materials (notably iron/steel, aluminium, nickel), at least while President Putin is in power;

Amendment 259 #

Motion for a resolution
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 and increase its own energy autonomy, at least while President Putin is in power;

Amendment 26 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A e (new)

-Ae. 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 260 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c

(c) the EU must ~~have a clear goal and plans on how~~cooperate with Russia to cut ~~its~~their dependency on Rufossi~~an gas and oil, at least while President Putin is in power~~l fuels and promote common projects to increase the use of renewable energies and energy efficiency;

Amendment 261 #

Motion for a resolution
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~~increase economic and strategic cooperation with Russia, including while the legitimately elected President Putin is in power;

Amendment 262 #

Motion for a resolution
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 line with the EU's energy policy and interests;

Amendment 263 #

(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 Pu~~seek to reduce its dependency on Russian gas and oil in order to achieve the agreed diversification ~~is in power~~of energy sources;

Amendment 264 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)

(ca) the EU and its Member States must accelerate the implementation of the European Green Deal and reject the notion of natural gas as an alleged intermediate lower-carbon path towards achieving the EU climate goals, considering Russia’s most recent energy strategy for 2035 envisions an increase in gas export capacity through pipelines in the western direction;

Amendment 265 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)

(ca) the EU should continue imposing sanctions including EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, against the Russian authorities in response to systematic human rights violations; the EU should also elaborate a mechanism to promptly impose visa ban and freeze the assets of oligarchs close to the Russian authorities and their families;

Amendment 266 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)

(ca) notes with concern that the Russian military activities in the Arctic are increasing and destabilising the region; the geopolitical importance of the region is growing fast, however, the Artic must stay as a low tension area; calls for Russia to respect the international law and conventions in the Arctic;

Amendment 267 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)

(ca) the EU should continue its engagement, including through the relevant EU Member States involved in the Normandy Format, in the full implementation of the Minsk agreements and to explore possibilities for transatlantic cooperation on this matter;

Amendment 268 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Bart GROOTHUIS, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)

(ca) Considers as essential for the EU to invest in projects to strengthen its security and its joint military, counter- espionage, cyber and energy capacities;

Amendment 269 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Bart GROOTHUIS, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c b (new)

(cb) considers that the EU must step up its efforts to establish a genuine European defence within the framework of the strengthened Atlantic Alliance in order to be able to intervene with more effective, deployable, interoperable and sustainable military capabilities and forces, so as to project itself as a strong and confident international actor capable of deterring any aggression, threat or blackmail of a military nature;

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 270 #

(cb) the EU should continue its efforts to raise security-related concerns and maintain them on the agenda of the relevant European and international organisations such as the OSCE or the UN where Russia is a participating state and member and has committed to respecting the organisations' principles and norms;

Amendment 271 #

Motion for a resolution
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 272 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c b (new)

(cb) the EU must uphold an ambitious and resolute European green agenda, including the full synchronisation of all Member States’ electricity grids with the Synchronous grid of Continental Europe, as the best long-term response to the problem of Europe’s strategic energy dependency on Russia;

Amendment 273 #

Motion for a resolution
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 274 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c c (new)

(cc) the EU should also oppose the expansion of Russia’s nuclear energy sector towards the EU and prevent electricity produced in Rosatom-built nuclear power plants from being sold in the EU market;

Amendment 275 #

Motion for a resolution
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 276 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c d (new)

(cd) the EU must continue to uphold the EaP countries’ independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within their internationally recognised borders, and condemn Russia’s direct and indirect involvement in armed conflicts in the EaP, as well as human rights violations carried out on territories occupied or annexed by Russia, including increased passportisation;

Amendment 277 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c e (new)

(ce) the EU should insist on the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements, including the end of military activities in Eastern Ukraine in particular, as a condition to ending any EU sanctions in relation to the conflict; the EU must make sure that the OSCE missions in Ukraine are extended for as long as they are necessary;

Amendment 278 #

Motion for a resolution
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 279 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 2

Containing the current Russian threat – fighting Russian interference in the EU and Eastern neighbourhood countries

Amendment 28 #

Motion for a resolution
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 280 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 2

Co~~ntaining the Russian threat – fight~~untering Russian interference in the EU and Eastern neighbourhood countries

Amendment 281 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 2

~~Containing the Russian threat –~~Decreasing tensions and fighting ~~Russia~~foreign interference in ~~the EU and~~ Eastern neighbourhood countries

Amendment 282 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c f (new)

(cf) the EU should decouple its policy towards the EaP countries from its relations with Russia and ensure that its Russia policy does not interfere with their European integration, if they choose this path and are committed to democratic reforms;

Amendment 283 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c g (new)

(cg) the EU should enable a discussion involving all regional actors from the EU to Russia, including the EaP countries, to discuss relevant regional geostrategic issues; the EU’s solidarity with the EaP countries should be underpinned by a clear strategy for long-term engagement, which also includes rebuilding trust in the EU as a reliable partner on security issues, such as the need for the EU’s greater involvement in peaceful conflict resolution;

Amendment 284 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d

~~(d)~~ the EU should initiate security ~~(d)~~ compacts with EaP countries that have an association agreement with the EU and propose a new EU integration strategy for Eastern Partners building on former Commission President Romano Prodi’s formula of ‘everything, but the institutions’, and to strengthen cooperation in areas such as informational and cyber-resilience, intelligence-sharing and stepping up joint military exercises;

Amendment 285 #

Motion for a resolution
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 ~~strategy~~approach 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 286 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Javier NART

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d

(d) the EU should initiate security compacts with EaP countries that have an association agreement with the EU ~~and propose a new EU integration strategy for Eastern Partners building on former Commission President Romano Prodi’s formula of ‘everything, but the institutions’~~in order to strengthen their resilience;

Amendment 287 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d

(d) the EU should initiate security compacts with EaP countries that have an association agreement with the EU and ~~propose a new EU integ~~consider creating an enhanced cooperation strategy for Eastern Partners ~~building on former Commission President Romano Prodi’s formula of ‘everything, but the institutions’~~;

Amendment 288 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d

(d) the EU should initiate security compacts with EaP countries that have an association agreement with the EU and ~~propose a new EU integration strategy for Eastern Partners building on former Commission President Romano Prodi’s formula of ‘everything, but the institu~~continue to enhance its cooperation with EaP countries with the aim of strengthening the resilience of their institutions, economies and societies and deepening political association and economic integrations’;

Amendment 289 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d

(d) the EU should initiate a dialogue on security ~~compa~~aspects with EaP countries that have an association agreement with the EU and propose a new EU integration strategy for Eastern Partners building on former Commission President Romano Prodi’s formula of ‘everything, but the institutions’Russia which should end the military escalation in EaP, as well as work towards a new model of association agreement with the EU that encourages the role of these countries as bridges between the EU and Russia and that can have a key role in ensuring peace;

Amendment 29 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A f (new)

-Af. whereas the media space in Russia is controlled and owned by the state, there is no public broadcaster, the remaining few independent media sources struggle financially and face persecution, including physical attacks and imprisonment of media workers; whereas since 1992, 58 journalists have been killed in Russia; whereas the “sovereign internet” law enables the government to block any unwanted Internet content;

Amendment 290 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d a (new)

(da) the EU should build upon the fruitful cooperation between authorities in the Eastern Partnership, such as the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, and the European Defence Agency (EDA), and promote its enrichment; the EU and our Eastern partners should boost cooperation in the sphere of cyber security and counter disinformation operations, as the post-Soviet countries possess unique experiences and knowledge of Russia’s cyber strategy and modus operandi, which is of great value to the EU and its Member States;

Amendment 291 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d a (new)

(da) 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; this includes improving and developing instruments and legal frameworks to fight against disinformation campaigns conducted by Russian actors on social media and through other channels such as RT and Sputnik;

Amendment 292 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d a (new)

(da) the EaP policy poses no threat to Russia and its relations with EaP countries; the EU must recognize the European aspirations of neighbouring countries and keep its own doors open for willing and capable countries, as there can be no compromises and concessions to appease Russia or follow its policy of spheres of influence;

Amendment 293 #

Motion for a resolution
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 294 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d a (new)

(da) emphasises the need for a political solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine and a stronger role for the EU in peaceful conflict resolution; calls on Russia to implement the provisions of the Minsk Agreements, and to engage constructively in the Normandy Process and the Trilateral Contact Group;

Amendment 295 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d a (new)

(da) the EU should promote a consultation framework with the Eurasian Union to promote mutually advantageous and sustainable economic relations and trade in the region;

Amendment 296 #

Motion for a resolution
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 297 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d b (new)

(db) the EU should establish a regulatory framework to fight the Russian financial interference in 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, notably far-right parties, political movements and political campaigns;

Amendment 298 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d b (new)

(db) the EU should work to guarantee the full implementation of the Minsk Protocol to halt the ongoing war in Donbas, and promote additional confidence building measures together with Russia in order to facilitate peace;

Amendment 299 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d b (new)

(db) reiterates its support to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders;

Amendment 3 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)

— having regard to the UN Charter, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR),

Amendment 30 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A g (new)

-Ag. whereas the goals of Putin’s regime include the following elements: to assert its authority to be a great power; to consolidate the regime’s interference in post-Soviet countries and beyond; to place the sovereignty of powerful states above the sovereignty of other states; to use the concept of protecting ethnic Russians abroad as justification for hybrid war and disinformation; to use frozen conflicts areas as a strategic element for interfering in the affected country and preventing it from moving closer to the EU and NATO; to use energy resources and illicit money laundering practices as a tool for manipulation and blackmailing; to undermine the model of liberal democracy and to portray Russia as morally superior and the West as morally inferior; to supress democracy, democratic opposition and the right for the people to express free will in Russia;

Amendment 300 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d c (new)

(dc) the EU should fight against Russian state-backed investments in 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 301 #

Motion for a resolution
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 302 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d d (new)

(dd) the EU should fight against harassment, intimidations and attacks against Russian refugees and asylum seekers in Europe; 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 303 #

Motion for a resolution
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 304 #

Bart GROOTHUIS, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS

Motion for a resolution
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 influences from the EU and its Member States;~~deleted

Amendment 305 #

Motion for a resolution
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 influences from the EU and its Member States; notes that the EU is increasingly involved in hybrid conflicts with geopolitical adversaries, including Russia; underlines that these acts are of a particularly destabilising and dangerous nature as they blur the lines between war and peace, destabilise democracies and sow doubt in the minds of target populations; recalls that these attacks are by themselves often not serious enough to trigger Article 5 of the NATO treaty or Article 42(7) TEU, though they have a strategic effect cumulatively and cannot be effectively tackled through retorsions by the affected member state; believes that the EU should therefore strive to find a solution to fill this legal vacuum by reinterpreting Article42(7) TEU and Article 222 TFEU in a way that would reserve the right for collective defence below the collective defence threshold and allow for collective countermeasures of EU Member States on a voluntary basis, and work internationally with allies for a similar solution to be found at the international level; underlines that this is the only effective means to counter the paralysis in reacting against hybrid threats and an instrument to increase the costs for our adversaries;

Amendment 306 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e

(e) the EU and its Member States should continue ~~its~~their work on the containment of Russian hybrid threats with instruments able to eliminate Russian hybrid influences ~~from the EU and its Member States~~, in particular, attempts to polarise and divide democratic societies through disinformation and support to anti-democratic forces across Europe;

Amendment 307 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e

(e) the EU should strengthen the monitoring and analysis of hybrid warfare activities and continue its work on the containment of Russian hybrid threats ~~with~~by ensuring sufficient resources, staffing and instruments able to eliminate Russian hybrid influences from the EU and its Member States;

Amendment 308 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e

(e) the EU should continue its work on the containment of Russian hybrid threats including manipulative disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks and elections intervention with instruments able to eliminate Russian hybrid influences from the EU and its Member States;

Amendment 309 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Javier NART, Christophe GRUDLER

Motion for a resolution
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 influences from the EU and its Member States and coordinate with NATO’s efforts to counter hybrid threats;

Amendment 31 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A g (new)

-Ag. whereas the Russian Orthodox Church strongly supports the Putin regime, acts as agent of Russian propaganda abroad, takes an active role in the special operations resulting in occupation and annexation of foreign territories, and in return enjoys its privileged political and financial position; whereas Russian laws allow the repression of religious groups that are deemed extremist;

Amendment 310 #

Motion for a resolution
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 ~~from~~in the EU ~~and~~, its Member States and EaP countries;

Amendment 311 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e

(e) the EU should continue its work on the containment of Russian hybrid threats with instruments able to ~~eliminate~~identify, prevent, counter and respond to Russian hybrid influences from the EU and its Member States;

Amendment 312 #

Motion for a resolution
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 in~~flu~~terferences from the EU and its Member States;

Amendment 313 #

(e) the EU should ~~continue its work on the containment of Russian hybrid threats with instruments able to eliminate Russian hybrid influences from the EU and its Member States~~work on promoting free and pluralistic media both within and outside the EU as the main tool to counter false information;

Amendment 314 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)

(ea) increase resilience and strengthen capacities to react to hybrid treats posed by Russia and others: cyber-security, propaganda and disinformation; call out Russia each time it executes hybrid attack against the EU and the Member States; increase resilience to cyber-attacks and expand capacities of the EU StratCom, as there is a need to cover not only the East and the Western Balkans, but also disinformation in the EU space;

Amendment 315 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)

(ea) the EU cannot envisage a return to ‘business as usual’ until Russia halts its aggressive policy and hybrid warfare against the EU Member States and the EU’s Eastern Partners, and the territorial integrity of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine is restored within their internationally recognised borders;

Amendment 316 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)

(ea) the EU must strengthen resilience and countermeasure capabilities against hybrid interference, in particular in order to prevent propaganda and disinformation originating from Russia from spreading in the EU, as well as to counter cyber- attacks and military espionage committed against Member States;

Amendment 317 #

Motion for a resolution
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 318 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)

(ea) the EU should define concrete mechanisms to combat and sanction Russian hybrid threats, disinformation campaigns and election interference, and implement bolder, coordinated, proportionate responses and adequate deterrence mechanisms to counter such threats;

Amendment 319 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)

(ea) the EU should show more unity and strength by taking collective countermeasures whenever Russia targets its aggression or threats against one or more singled out Member States, for instance by expelling Russian diplomats at the European level in reaction to the expulsion of diplomats of individual Member States by the Russian authorities;

Amendment 32 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A h (new)

-Ah. whereas the Russian Federation, as a full member of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, has committed itself to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights; whereas continued serious violations of the rule of law and the adoption of restrictive laws over the last few years are increasingly calling Russia’s compliance with its international and national obligations into question; whereas Russia has failed to implement more than a thousand judgements of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR); whereas the Russian Federation is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but has continuously violated the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly;

Amendment 320 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)

(ea) deplores the fact that Russian civil society organizations and NGOs are systematically deprived by the Russian authorities of the means to fight corruption;

Amendment 321 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e b (new)

(eb) the EU must come up with a strong strategy against disinformation campaigns and narratives of foreign state- associated media that distort public discourse in the EU, including measures to protect its own media landscape and systematically monitor content offered by Russian and Russian-affiliated media and internet providers (whether in Russian- or in any other language), without restricting press freedoms; the EU should further support independent media, journalists and bloggers in Russia in order to strengthen alternative sources and channels that are not controlled by the Kremlin;

Amendment 322 #

Motion for a resolution
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 323 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e b (new)

(eb) calls on the EU to engage with NATO and leverage and expand current engagements in the Black Sea region and specifically further engage with countries in the Eastern Partnership through a whole-of-society approach in order to ensure a secure and stable Black Sea region;

Amendment 324 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e b (new)

(eb) ensure a swift implementation of the incoming proposals of the European Parliament Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation (INGE);

Amendment 325 #

Motion for a resolution
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 326 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e c (new)

(ec) the EU needs to push-back the Kremlin’s activities designed to undermine the European project, destabilise our political system, raise divisions amongst Member States through fake news in social media, support for populist, extremist, mostly right-wing parties or political separatists, cyber- attacks against sensitive infrastructure and killings of exiled opponents; the EU should limit the flow of Russian online disinformation campaigns by punishing people responsible for spreading Russian disinformation;

Amendment 327 #

Motion for a resolution
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 328 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e c (new)

(ec) strengthen the EU’s role as a global player, as well as the capacities of the EU institutions, not allow Russia to continue a so-called bilateralization of relations with the EU, as Brussels should be the only capital where key decisions about the EU-Russia relations are taken;

Amendment 329 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
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 33 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A h (new)

-Ah. whereas the LGBTI+ community in Russia faces extensive discrimination, including harassment, torture, imprisonment and killings; whereas situation for LGBTI+ community is particularly dangerous in Chechnya, which in 2017 started its purge of LGBTI+ people, detaining and torturing dozens, with at least two killed, and many seeking for safe refuge abroad; whereas existing laws prohibit any public discussion on “non-traditional sexual relationships”;

Amendment 330 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e d (new)

(ed) the EU should maintain close coordination with transatlantic partners in implementing decisions towards Russia, and, in coordination with transatlantic partners, consider additional sanctions to Russia should it fail to reduce tensions on Ukraine’s borders; sanctions against Russia can only be lifted or mitigated once Russia has fully implemented the Minsk agreements;

Amendment 331 #

Motion for a resolution
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)

(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 333 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e g (new)

(eg) the EU needs to build its strategy on Russia on the understanding that by defending democracy in Belarus, the EU also supports democracy in Russia;

Amendment 334 #

Motion for a resolution
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 335 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e i (new)

(ei) the EU in its engagement with Russia should work towards two directions: conditional selective dialogue with Kremlin authorities and strategic engagement with the civil society of Russia, which is striving for democracy in Russia;

Amendment 336 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e j (new)

(ej) the EU strategy towards Russia should not preclude engaging with the Kremlin authorities where it is in the interest of the EU; without undermining the EU’s commitments to human rights and democracy goals, as it is still important for the EU to find ways to de- escalate current tensions by identifying measures to increase transparency and reduce the risk of misunderstandings and miscalculations;

Amendment 337 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e k (new)

(ek) the EU should keep options for dialogue with Russia on topics of common interest, for example, in areas such as, implementation of arms control policy on European continent, return to Open Skies treaty, having the JCPOA with Iran fully operational again, the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, of which Russia is a signatory;

Amendment 338 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e l (new)

(el) the EU must ensure that any further engagement with the Kremlin should depend on the Kremlin’s promise to end its domestic aggression against its own people, to stop systemic repressions of the opposition, intimidation and torture of political prisoners, to repeal the legislation on the foreign agents, to stop the repressions of civil society organisations, in particular of the ones fighting corruption and defending human rights in Russia, and to end its external aggression against the neighbouring countries;

Amendment 339 #

Motion for a resolution
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 34 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A i (new)

-Ai. whereas the Putin regime rejects multilateralism and the rule of law based international order, disregards international law and Helsinki OSCE principles, as demonstrated by the 2020 constitutional reforms elevating Russian law above international law;

Amendment 340 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e n (new)

(en) in its attempts for engagement with the Kremlin, the EU must have clearly defined red lines: the EU should not seek any grand bargain with Kremlin, if the Kremlin will seek a free hand at home and a free hand in its zone of privileged interests (Ukraine, Belarus, etc.); the EU must make it absolutely clear that it will not sacrifice other countries on the altar of better relations with Moscow;

Amendment 341 #

Motion for a resolution
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)

(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)

(ep) the EU should more specifically improve and develop its instruments and legal frameworks to fight against disinformation campaigns conducted by Russian actors on social media and through other channels such as RT and Sputnik and aimed at destabilising our democratic systems;

Amendment 344 #

Motion for a resolution
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)

(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)

(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)

(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 348 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 3

~~Engagement~~Implementing measures to support democracy ~~– pushing back with sanctions, financial controls and international investigations~~in Russia

Amendment 349 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 3

~~Engagement to support democracy – pushing back with sanc~~Working together against corruptions, ~~financial controls and international investigations~~tax evasion and other forms of crime

Amendment 35 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A i (new)

-Ai. whereas the behaviour of Russia’s current leadership poses one of the main challenges to the EU’s strategic and foreign policy agenda as well as to freedom, peace and security in Europe and beyond;

Amendment 350 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f

(f) the EU should under no circumstances establish with the US any sort of transatlantic alliance ~~to defend~~; it should be recalled that neither the EU, nor the US, are watchdogs of democracy globally, and ~~propose a democracy defence toolkit, which should include~~that unilateral or joint actions on sanctions, anti- money laundering policies, rules on the conditionality of economic and financial assistance, international investigations, and support for so-called human rights activists and defenders of democracy who are demonstrably linked to foreign NGOs, have in the past resulted in conflicts, wars and the subversion of states;

Amendment 351 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f

(f) the EU should establish, in partnership 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 should also ensure that sanctions remain in place until Russia demonstrates in actual facts that it respects international law and commitments;

Amendment 352 #

Motion for a resolution
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 353 #

Motion for a resolution
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~~;

Amendment 354 #

Motion for a resolution
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 355 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f

(f) the EU and Russia 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 conditionalityeffective cooperation mechanisms to fight money laundering, which is a problem on both sides, as well as working together in international fora for strict international regulation on money laundering and on the definition of eco~~nomic and financial assistance, international investigations, and support for human rights activists and defenders of democracy~~rruption as a crime under international law, as well as on the adoption of specific measures to counter it in its international dimension;

Amendment 356 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f

(f) the EU should establish with the US a ~~transatlantic~~nd other like-minded partners an 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 357 #

Motion for a resolution
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 358 #

Motion for a resolution
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 la~~policies to coundter~~ing policie~~ illicit financial flows, rules on the conditionality of economic and financial assistance, international investigations, and support for human rights activists and defenders of democracy;

Amendment 359 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU

Motion for a resolution
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 shcould include joint actions on targeted 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 36 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A j (new)

-Aj. whereas the 2020 Russian constitutional reforms revised the history of the WWII, cleansing the Soviet history and naming Russia as a successor of the Soviet Union, introduced the right to intervene internationally in defence of Russian compatriots and outlawed discussions about returning Russian lands to foreign actors;

Amendment 360 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f

(f) the EU should e~~stablish~~nhance 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;

Amendment 361 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f

(f) the EU ~~should establish with the US a transatlantic alliance~~must strengthen its cooperation with the US 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~~an ambitious agenda to support freedom and democracy;

Amendment 362 #

Motion for a resolution
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 363 #

Emmanouil FRAGKOS, Thierry MARIANI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)

(f a) The economic sanctions imposed on Russia do not achieve their goals. The EU should therefore use the instrument of the EU's Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime in the case of human rights violations;

Amendment 364 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)

(fa) The EU must immediately lift the sanctions that have hit the European farmers and our exports.

Amendment 365 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g

Amendment 366 #

Motion for a resolution
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 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 projectthe EU should strengthen dialogue with Russia in order to guarantee the achievement of sustainable development goals and the implementation of the Paris agreement to which both are parties;

Amendment 367 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA

Motion for a resolution
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 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~~stop the completion of the Nord Stream 2 project and demand that the construction of controversial nuclear power plants built by Rosatom be stopped, as well as systematically review similar bilateral projects in the EU that undermine the principle of solidarity, support corruption or lead to human rights violations;

Amendment 368 #

Motion for a resolution
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 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, which in addition to increasing the EU dependency on Russian gas, will expose Ukraine to Russian malevolence and pressure to recognize the autonomy of separatist regions;;

Amendment 369 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g

Amendment 37 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A k (new)

-Ak. whereas in 2019 Russia re-joined the Council of Europe but extensive violations of human rights continue, as well as its refusal to comply with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights;

Amendment 370 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g

Amendment 371 #

Motion for a resolution
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~~aimed 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

(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 373 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g

Amendment 374 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g

Amendment 375 #

Motion for a resolution
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~~pursuing dialogue or agreement with Russia on measures aimed at protecting human rights and the holding of free elections as a stronger requirement for dialogue; 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 376 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)

(ga) regrets the current state of EU- Russia relations caused by Russia’s aggression and continued destabilisation of Ukraine, hostile behaviour towards and outright attacks on EU Member States and societies manifested, inter alia, through interference in election processes, the use of disinformation, deep fakes, malicious cyberattacks, sabotage and chemical weapons, and the significant deterioration in the human rights situation and respect for the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in Russia; strongly condemns Russia’s hostile behaviour in Europe and calls on its government to put an end to these activities, which violate international principles and norms and threaten stability in Europe;

Amendment 377 #

Motion for a resolution
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 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE

Motion for a resolution
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 379 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)

(ga) 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 that the European Parliament has assessed as “illegally enacted”;

Amendment 38 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A l (new)

-Al. whereas Russia uses other international institutions, primarily the UN and the OSCE, to prevent justice and conflict resolution worldwide;

Amendment 380 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g b (new)

(gb) in particular, in line with the ‘democracy first’ principle, the EU has to increase its capacity in demanding the release of political prisoners and to support independent media and bloggers, independent trade unions and civil society organisations in Russia; 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 established by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Resolution 1900/2012; the EU must use every opportunity to bring up these and other violations in the area of the freedom of expression to the attention of Russian authorities, in particular with regard to the harassment, prosecution and physical attacks against political and civil society activists, journalists and human rights defenders in Russia;

Amendment 381 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g b (new)

(gb) adopt a foreign agents law at the EU level to regulate the work of registered lobbyists active in political interference and disinformation, inter alia;

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 383 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g c (new)

(gc) increase efforts to curb the Kremlin’s strategic investments, which often stem from the EU Member States through the financial flows of Russian oligarchs and companies set up to fund Russia’s malign interference and spread of corruption in the EU;

Amendment 384 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Javier NART

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g d (new)

(gd) the EU institutions must regularly report in the hearings of European Parliament on the situation of political prisoners in Russia, build close contacts with human rights defenders in Russia and be constantly aware of the names and the conditions of imprisonment of political activists in Russia;

Amendment 385 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g d (new)

(gd) pay special attention to the institute of double citizenship, as it is often exploited for subversion, continue insisting on Bulgaria and Malta to abandon their “golden passports” regimes;

Amendment 386 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g e (new)

(ge) strengthen the European banking system in order to detect and prevent money laundering by Russia and other countries;

Amendment 387 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g f (new)

(gf) initiate a review of Russia's compliance with its commitments to the Council of Europe;

Amendment 388 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h

(h) the EU should ~~increase its ability to prepare and adopt~~lift its sanctions against the Russian authorities ~~for~~as 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 corrupy have proven they are of no use to achieve any form of improvement in the situation;

Amendment 389 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h

Amendment 39 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A m (new)

-Am. whereas Russia is implementing a hostile “Russian World” concept to prepare the ground for its interference in third countries in defence of Russian compatriots;

Amendment 390 #

Motion for a resolution
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 corrupmust respect Russian sovereignty, without artificially financing or constructing oppositions or political figures whose importance in Russia is inversely proportional to their audience within the EU institutions;

Amendment 391 #

Motion for a resolution
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~~grave violations of human rights, including by ~~updating the~~adopting an EU anti-corruption sanctions regime in order to complement the current EU gGlobal ~~sanctions mechanism (EU Magnitsky Act) to address cases of corruption~~Human Rights Sanctions Regime; in the event of further escalation, the EU should also consider sanctions that target the financing of intelligence services and the military, and the oil and gas sector;

Amendment 392 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h

(h) the EU should increase its ability to prepare and adopt sanctions against the Russian authorities and oligarchs 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 and by using the rule of qualified majority voting in the Council when adopting sanctions in case of human rights abuses;

Amendment 393 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h

Amendment 394 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h

(h) the EU should increase its ability to prepare and adopt sanctions against the Russian authorities, Russian oligarchs, and Vladimir Putin’s acolytes 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;

Amendment 395 #

Motion for a resolution
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 396 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART

Motion for a resolution
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, minorities, religious and LGBTI groups 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;

Amendment 397 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h

Amendment 398 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h

Amendment 399 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h

(h) the EU should ~~increase~~think about 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;

Amendment 4 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 b (new)

— having regard to the ‘Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk Agreements’, adopted and signed in Minsk on 12 February 2015 and endorsed as a whole by UN Security Council resolution 2202 (2015) of 17 February 2015,

Amendment 40 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A n (new)

-An. whereas a passportization policy is being used to boost the numbers of Russian compatriots and de facto incorporate into Russia citizens of territories occupied by it and breakaway territories, notably Transnistria, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Donbas and the Crimean Peninsula; whereas these Russian actions are a violation of international laws;

Amendment 400 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h a (new)

(ha) the EU should prepare a new sanctions mechanism whereby the continuation of hostile acts perpetrated by the Russian Federation would trigger an EU-level reduction of energy imports from Russian-based suppliers by a certain percentage while at the same time it would assist EU Member States in filling the gap through measures consistent with the European Green Deal; stresses that the reduction should automatically increase by the same percentage on an annual basis until the Russian Federation reverses its hostile acts;

Amendment 401 #

Andrius KUBILIUS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h a (new)

(ha) the EU should replace the unanimity requirement for imposing sanctions in the EU Council with the qualified majority voting;

Amendment 402 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h a (new)

(ha) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Alexei Navalny, whose sentencing is politically motivated and runs counter to Russia’s international human rights obligations, and of all persons detained during protests in support of his release or his anti-corruption campaign; expects Russia to comply with the interim measure of the European Court of Human Rights with regard to the nature and extent of risk to Alexei Navalny’s life;

Amendment 403 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h b (new)

(hb) reiterates that unity among EU Member States is the best policy to deter Russia from carrying out destabilising and subversive actions in Europe; calls on the Member States to coordinate their positions and actions vis-à-vis Russia and to speak with a unified voice; considers that the EU should seek further cooperation with like-minded partners, in particular NATO and the US, to use all means available at international level to effectively counter Russia’s continued interferences, ever-more aggressive disinformation campaigns and gross violations of international law that threaten security and stability in Europe;

Amendment 404 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i

Amendment 405 #

Motion for a resolution
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 406 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i

(i) the EU should ~~establish~~consider partnerships on its sanctions policy with EU-based non-governmental organisations ~~such as Bellingcat, so that~~on the basis of their credibility and objectivity, such as Bellingcat, which is tainted by its ideological leanings and pro-American geopolitical tendencies, and weigh up which of these organisations can assist it in preparing and investigating cases in a comprehensive way;

Amendment 407 #

Motion for a resolution
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 ithe EU in preparing and investigating cases in a comprehensive way;

Amendment 408 #

Motion for a resolution
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 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Javier NART

Motion for a resolution
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 41 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A o (new)

-Ao. whereas the EU Member States allowing dual citizenship are exposed to Russia’s passportization policy; whereas the EU Member States which adopted so- called “golden passports” regimes enable Kremlin loyalists to enjoy the European quality of life with money stolen from the Russian people and to spread corruption into the EU;

Amendment 410 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j

(j) the EU must take responsibility for sharpening its own anti-money laundering regulation, consistently implement and enforce the existing rules, and create more transparency, especially in relation to the Russian elite’s funds deposited or spent in the EU; 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 influences from Russia;

Amendment 411 #

Motion for a resolution
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 influences from ~~Russia;~~ third countries, including through the financing of xenophobic and neo-fascist parties and movements;

Amendment 412 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j

(j) the EU should ~~establish a centralised~~further strengthen its anti-money laundering framework, ~~including an EU authority for financial controls, to be put under Parliament’s supervision and to be entrusted with~~facilitate increased cooperation between competent authorities and introduce an EU authority for financial controls, to improve the protection of the EU and its Member States from illicit financial practices and influences from Russia that are being used for subversive political purposes;

Amendment 413 #

Motion for a resolution
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 and the Council's supervision and to be entrusted with the protection of the EU and its Member States from illicit financial practices and influences from Russia and other authoritarian regimes;

Amendment 414 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j

Amendment 415 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j

(j) the EU should establish a centralised ~~anti-money laundering framework~~framework to counter illicit financial flows, 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 influences from Russia;

Amendment 416 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j

Amendment 417 #

Motion for a resolution
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)

(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 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART

Motion for a resolution
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 42 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A p (new)

-Ap. whereas the Kremlin’s propaganda opposes Russian and European/Western values by calling the latter “rotten liberal- progressive West” and supports pro- Russian and other organizations of divisive nature that are able to undermine policies of national governments, spread defamation and demonise the West, especially the EU and NATO, promote hatred, intolerance and Soviet nostalgia, and rewrite the history of Soviet crimes;

Amendment 420 #

Motion for a resolution
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 421 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k

(k) the EU should initiate and contribute to international investigation of crimes committed by President Putin’s regime against the people of Russia together with the crimes committed by Mr Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus, within the framework of an impunity platform and an EU Justice Hub; in the context of those investigations, the EU should establish a task force of advisers to assist national and international investigations, trials and the setting-up of EU tribunals, and report periodically to Parliament on the state of political freedoms in Russia;deleted

Amendment 422 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k

Amendment 423 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k

(k) the EU should initiate and contribute to international investigation of crimes committed by President Putin’s regime against the people of Russia ~~together with the crimes committed by Mr Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus,~~ within the framework of an impunity platform and an EU Justice Hub; in the context of those investigations, the EU should establish a task force of advisers to assist national and international investigations, trials and the setting-up of EU tribunals, and report periodically to Parliament on the state of political freedoms in Russia;

Amendment 424 #

Bart GROOTHUIS, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)

(ka) the EU should develop effective strategies in the field of digital policy in order to use technological standards and the open internet to support free spaces and restrict oppressive technologies; the EU should therefore support open-source technologies, services for secure communication, decentralized platforms, and new low-threshold and privacy- protected, attractive social media for the Russian population, while at the same time expanding global technological standards in privacy, creating ethical and legal standards that have a signalling effect to promote fundamental rights protection, working toward an international ban of mass surveillance technologies and invasive social scoring systems, and insisting on banning autonomous weapons systems;

Amendment 425 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)

(ka) Condemns the role of Russia in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 and its attempts to undermine the criminal investigation (by the Joint Investigation Team) by deliberately spreading disinformation; recalls the full support of the international community to achieve justice for the 298 victims of the downing of Flight MH17 and demands Russia’s full cooperation in the search for the people responsible and bringing them to justice;

Amendment 426 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)

(ka) the EU should further condemn the persecution, arbitrary detention and torture of LGBTIQ+ persons, stress the continued need for investigations and call for the immediate release of all prisoners in such situations, including in Chechnya; the EU should, with the support of the Member States, facilitate asylum request procedures for such victims in accordance with European and national law;

Amendment 427 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)

(ka) the EU should encourage and support efforts in national and international jurisdictions to launch criminal proceedings to hold Russian military and para-military groups accountable for violations and crimes, including war crimes, committed against civilians during operations in multiple countries, such as for instance Syria and Libya;

Amendment 428 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)

(ka) Calls on the EU to urgently demand the release of all political prisoners unjustly imprisoned for political reasons, including Alexei Navalny, Alexei Pichugin, Yuri Dmitriev, and all others designated by the Memorial Human Rights Centre as 'political prisoners';

Amendment 429 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)

(ka) the EU should demand an independent and impartial investigation into the assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and bring the perpetrators to justice, in line with the recommendations of the OSCE and the Council of Europe1a; _________________ 1a https://www.oscepa.org/en/documents/offi cers-of-the-assembly/margareta-cederfelt- sweden/3971-the-nemtsov-murder-and- rule-of-law-in-russia-report-by-osce-pa- vice-president-margareta-cederfelt-20- february-2020/file; https://pace.coe.int/en/files/27722

Amendment 43 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A q (new)

-Aq. whereas the “Russian World” is being promoted by state-owned media channels such as Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik in the native languages of the EU Member States; whereas the COVID-19 pandemic is being used by Kremlin’s propaganda to seed division among the EU Member States, portray the EU as unable to cope with the pandemic, seed doubts about the vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency, discourage EU citizens from vaccination, and rehabilitate Russia’s image in the eyes of EU population, particularly via the promotion of the Sputnik V vaccine;

Amendment 430 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)

(ka) must call all the national governments and the international organisations to conduct inquiries on hidden patrimonies of the main Russian leaders and oligarchs and publicize those figures;

Amendment 431 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 4

~~Engagement to support democracy – supporting a pro-democracy society in Russia~~deleted

Amendment 432 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 4

Engagement ~~to supp~~fort democracy ~~– supporting a pro-democracy society in Russia~~

Amendment 433 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)

(ka) 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 434 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k a (new)

(ka) the EU should strengthen its support to Russian dissidents, non- governmental organisations, civil society organisations, human rights defenders, and independent media outlets;

Amendment 435 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k b (new)

(kb) the EU should support Russian civil society and foster people-to-people contacts between the EU and Russian citizens, particularly as Russian citizens are the biggest recipients of Schengen visas in the world, most of which are multiple-entry and multiannual; consider reducing the visa fee for Russian citizens and lead an effective information campaign to show that the EU is welcoming to the Russian people;

Amendment 436 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k b (new)

(kb) the EU should demand that the Russian authorities release all those unjustly imprisoned for political reasons and stop the harassment, intimidations and attacks on civil society, media, human rights organisations and activists, as well as those fighting for the rights of women and marginalised groups; the EU should, where appropriate, facilitate the issuing of emergency visas and provide temporary shelter in the EU Member States;

Amendment 437 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k c (new)

(kc) the EU should use every possibility to support, financially and otherwise, civil society and human rights defenders that promote democratic values, rule of law, fundamental freedoms and human rights, in particular gender equality and minority rights, and environmental action in Russia, including by holding high level meetings with Russian human rights defenders, and making public interventions with Russian authorities on individual cases involving civil society representatives, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and other activists;

Amendment 438 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k d (new)

(kd) the EU should continuously call on Russia to repeal or amend all laws incompatible with international standards, such as the “foreign agents” law and the law on “undesirable” organisations, remind Russia that the detention of political opponents is against its international commitments, and insist on the depoliticisation of the judiciary, the right to a fair trial and access to legal counsel;

Amendment 439 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k e (new)

(ke) the EU should closely monitor the human rights situation in the Russian Federation, including through monitoring of court cases of civil society organizations, opposition politicians, and activists by the EU Delegation in Russia and the embassies of the Member States;

Amendment 44 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A r (new)

-Ar. whereas the Russian “foreign agents” law adopted in 2012 was used to get rid of Western grant-giving organisations and deprive democracy- promoting local NGOs from essential funding, and has been gradually expanding and currently any ordinary citizen can be branded as a foreign agent for its political activity; whereas another law prohibits the financing of public events in Russia by foreign governments, organizations and other actors labelled as foreign agents;

Amendment 440 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k f (new)

(kf) the EU must strengthen people-to- people contacts with the citizens of Russia, including by lowering visa barriers and broadening school, university and cultural exchange programs, as well as by direct recruitment opportunities for both high-skill and low- skill workers from Russia; the EU must create and widen alternatives for politically motivated immigrants from Russia to be able to live in Europe under safe and legally certain conditions;

Amendment 441 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k g (new)

(kg) the EU should call on the Russian government and State Duma to revise the legal framework for elections, including on election observation, in order to facilitate pluralism and free and fair elections according to international standards and create a level playing field for opposition candidates;

Amendment 442 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k h (new)

(kh) the EU must support fundamental human rights including by championing of ender equality, LGBTIQ+ rights and minority rights in Russia; the EU should, wherever possible, help oppressed citizens in Russia, especially those who face discrimination on the basis of age, race, ethnicity, linguistic or social group, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, sex characteristics, or any other grounds;

Amendment 443 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k i (new)

(ki) the EU should put an emphasis on racism, xenophobia, hate crimes, police brutality, and other forms of discrimination against minorities that are still rampant in Russian society, as well as the Russian government’s continued discrimination against LGBTIQ+ persons and use of the “gay propaganda” ban to justify criminal prosecutions; the EU should further condemn the persecution, arbitrary detention and torture of LGBTIQ+ persons, stress the continued need for investigations and call for the immediate release of all prisoners in such situations, including in Chechnya; the EU should, with the support of the Member States, facilitate asylum request procedures for such victims in accordance with European and national law;

Amendment 444 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point k j (new)

(kj) the EU should implement its commitment to gender mainstreaming in all external actions and raise the issue of gender equality, women’s rights and gender-based violence in its interactions with the Russian Federation, and raise awareness among the population; the EU should engage in particular on the treatment of women’s rights defenders, women’s representation in politics and public administration, women’s opportunities in the labour market, and sexual and reproductive health and rights in Russia;

Amendment 445 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l

~~(l) the EU should confront the Russian-language propaganda of President Putin’s regime and support the establishment of a Free Russia Television with 24/7 airtime;~~deleted

Amendment 446 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l

(l) the EU should confront the Russian-language propaganda of President Putin’s regime, by supporting and strengthening independent journalists and media outlets that offer an alternative to the Kremlin’s disinformation, and support the establishment of a Free Russia Television with 24/7 airtime;

Amendment 447 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l

(l) the EU should confront the Russian-language propaganda of President Putin’s regime and support the establishment of a Free Russia Television with 24/7 airtime as well as support already established free and independent media operating in Russia;

Amendment 448 #

Motion for a resolution
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 449 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l

(l) the EU should ~~confront~~ work together withe Russia~~n-language propaganda of President Putin’s regime and support the establishment of a Free Russia Television with 24/7 airtime~~ in order to de-escalate tensions, including by immediately ending the use of war language and portraying one another as enemies;

Amendment 45 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A s (new)

-As. whereas Russian embassies, consulates and their affiliated cultural centres in the EU Member States are offering free cultural events and Russian language lessons and numerous local NGOs and radical groups, including political movements, receive Russian funding;

Amendment 450 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l

(l) the EU should confront the Russian-language propaganda of President Putin’s regime and support the establishment of a ~~Free~~ Russia Free Television with 24/7 airtime;

Amendment 451 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l a (new)

(la) the EU should demand that Russian authorities release all political prisoners, which are designated as such by the Memorial Human Rights Centre in accordance with the criteria set out it Resolution 1900 (2012) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe1a, including Alexei Navalny, Alexei Pichugin, and Yuri Dmitriev; _________________ 1a https://memohrc.org/ru/pzk-list; https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref -XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=19150⟨=en

Amendment 452 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l a (new)

(la) the EU should encourage people- to-people contacts with Russia including by investing in common cultural and research programmes and through visa liberalisation;

Amendment 453 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l b (new)

(lb) the EU must confront Russia’s rapidly deteriorating state of media freedom as well as the Russian-language propaganda of the Russian authorities; the EU must act to counter the pressure on independent media, including by establishing a European Democratic Media Fund to support independent media around the world, including in Russia; the EU must do more to support and strengthen independent journalists and media outlets that offer an alternative to the Kremlin’s disinformation, without which Russia cannot be democratic, prosperous, and free; in this regard, the EU should support independent media outlets, such as Meduza and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), in light of the onerous and impractical so-called 'foreign agent' laws enacted by the Russian authorities to suppress free speech and independent journalism;

Amendment 454 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m

(m) the EU must be prepared not to recognise the parliament of Russia and to ask for Russia’s suspension from international organisations with parliamentary assemblies if the 2021 parliamentary elections in Russia are recognised as fraudulent;deleted

Amendment 455 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m

Amendment 456 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m

(m) the EU must be prepared not to recognise the parliament of Russia and to ~~ask for~~urge 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 457 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m

(m) the EU must ~~be prepared not to recognise the parliament of Russia and to ask for Russia’s suspension from international organisations with parliamentary assemblies~~actively and regularly participate in international election observation missions in Russia, including ifn the 2021 parliamentary elections ~~in Russia are recognised as fraudulent~~;

Amendment 458 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m

(m) the EU must ~~be prepared not to recognise the parliament of Russia and to ask for Russia’s suspe~~undertake to respect democratic choices and base its actionsi on ~~from international organisations with parliamentary assemblies if the 2021 parliamentary elections in Russia are recognised as fraudulent~~objective, reasonable and substantiated elements when commenting on the conduct of elections;

Amendment 459 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Nathalie LOISEAU

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m

(m) the EU must be prepared not to recognise the parliament of Russia and to ~~ask~~consider asking for Russia’s suspension from international organisations with parliamentary assemblies if the 2021 parliamentary elections in Russia are recognised as fraudulent;

Amendment 46 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A t (new)

-At. whereas the Russian financial support for political parties and movements is a direct interference into the democratic processes of the EU and its Member States, as these parties and movements promote Russia’s interests as well as values contradictory to those of the EU;

Amendment 460 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m a (new)

(ma) the EU should condemn the illegal organization by Russia of 2021 parliamentary elections and of any further elections in the occupied Crimea, as well as the engagement of Ukrainian citizens residing in the occupied certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts who were conferred the Russian citizenship in the context of Russian illegal passportisation , constituting a flagrant interference in internal affairs of Ukraine, undermining the Minsk Arrangements and violating International Humanitarian Law;

Amendment 461 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m a (new)

(ma) Stresses its unwavering support for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Meduza and other independent media targeted by the Kremlin; rejects all attempts by the Kremlin to silence independent media, whether through administrative, financial or coercive means;

Amendment 462 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m a (new)

(ma) the EU’s engagement with Russia should go beyond treating the political elite as the sole political actor in the country, and increase engagement with the Russian regions in order to open the door to more independent cooperation with regional and local actors;

Amendment 463 #

Motion for a resolution
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)

(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)

(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)

(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

(n) the EU should adopt and announce a strategic vision for its future relations with a democratic ~~Russia~~and 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 468 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n

(n) ~~the EU should adopt and announc~~calls on the EU to adopt a strategy that will take into account different possible developments in EU-Russia relations as well as within Russia; this must include a strategic vision for its future relations with a democratic Russia, 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; at the same time, the EU and its democratic allies must also be prepared to deal with a more repressive and revanchist regime and should therefore simultaneously work to strengthen the resilience of democratic societies, and strengthen the EU and its Member States' cyber, intelligence and military capabilities to ensure sufficient deterrence;

Amendment 469 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n

(n) the EU should adopt and announce a strategic vision for its future relations with a democratic Russia, 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, conditional upon Russia’s transition into a fully-fledged democratic system of governance, respecting fundamental rights, individual freedoms, freedom of the press, international law and the international rules-based system;

Amendment 47 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A u (new)

-Au. whereas the EU and its Member States institutions as well as objects of strategical importance, leadership and democratic processes such as elections are the constant target of Russian cyber- attacks;

Amendment 470 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n

(n) the EU should adopt and announce a strategic vision for its future relations with a democratic Russia, w~~hich should include a broa~~ith conditions and incentives that could be offered only if Russia fully and genuinely implements the Minsk agreement and offther ~~with conditions and incentives such as~~international commitments and restores trust in its relations with the EU and its neighbours; such a vision may include 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~~cooperative and democratic Russia;

Amendment 471 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n

(n) the EU should adopt and announce a strategic vision for its future relations with a democratic Russia, 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. Civil society contacts must be further promoted and developed, including through visa facilitation for the purpose of exchanges between young people;

Amendment 472 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n

(n) the EU should look in to the future of EU relations with a free, prosperous and democratic ‘Russia after President Putin’; the EU should adopt and announce a strategic vision for its future relations with a democratic Russia, 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;

Amendment 473 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n

(n) the EU should adopt and announce a strategic vision for its future relations with a democratic Russia, 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 Russiavoid any form of interference in internal Russian affairs ahead of after the 2021 parliamentary election, in full respect of the principle of non-intervention which is a core element of international law and democratic principles;

Amendment 474 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n

(n) the EU should ~~adopt and announc~~promote a strategic vision for its future relations with a democratic Russia, which should include a broad offer with conditions and incentives such as visa liberalisation, free trade investment and modernisation programmes, and a strategic partnership aiming among others at the stability of the continent and the full respect of its international borders; it should also convey the potential benefits that it is willing to offer in return for a democratic transformation of Russia;

Amendment 475 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n

(n) the EU should adopt and announce a strategic vision for its future relations with ~~a democratic~~ Russia, 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;

Amendment 476 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n a (new)

(na) EU and its member states should better equip themselves to counter coordinated stigmatization campaigns against peaceful protesters, human rights defenders and civic and political activists, including by ensuring consistent and strong public messaging in support of human right defenders at all levels of decision-making, ensuring timely and visible responses to attacks on human rights and the rule of law, improving the impact of trial monitoring efforts by systematizing follow up and increasing visibility, and make increased and more flexible funding available to civil society organizations and human rights defenders;

Amendment 477 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n a (new)

(na) the EU should call for the withdrawal of oppressive laws against the civil society and political opposition, which designate selected organisations as ‘undesirable’ or ‘extremist’ and thus prevent them from conducting their activities and subject them to possible criminal cases; it should demand the repeal of the ‘foreign agents’ law systematically applied to retaliate against free media and independent journalists and should strengthen its support to independent media in Russia;

Amendment 478 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n a (new)

(na) the EU should adopt a comprehensive list of all available instruments for engaging with democratic society in Russia, which may include proposals elaborated by many Russian civil society organisations, such as appointing a special EU representative for inter-societal cooperation with Russia;

Amendment 479 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n a (new)

(na) calls on the Council to deny recognition of any attempt by Vladimir Putin to continue in office beyond the end of his current and final presidential mandate on 7th May 2024, should he attempt to do on the basis of the illegal 2020 constitutional amendments;

Amendment 48 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A v (new)

-Av. whereas Putin’s Russia seeks to maintain its influence in the former Soviet space at any cost, it rejects the right of self-determination of neighbouring countries and openly disrupts their efforts to implement pro-European democratic reforms and jeopardises their ambitions to join the EU and NATO;

Amendment 480 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n a (new)

(na) urges the EU and its Member States to continue and intensify the promotion of good relations with Russian citizens, particularly in key areas such as education, research, science, culture, the environment and cross-border cooperation;

Amendment 481 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n b (new)

(nb) stresses that the EU must demand that Russian authorities conduct an impartial and independent investigation into the assassination of the Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and brings its organisers and masterminds to justice, in accordance with the recommendations of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, and further calls on the Russian authorities to ensure an impartial and independent investigation into the poisoning of Alexei Navalny;

Amendment 482 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n b (new)

(nb) therefore stresses the importance of intensifying dialogue with the Russian people and of strengthening political and financial support for civil society activists, human rights defenders, independent media, investigative journalists, academics and public figures and NGOs; calls on the EU Member States to contribute more -materially and technically - to this support;

Amendment 483 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n b (new)

(nb) the EU should increase substantially its financial and technical assistance to trade unions, independent media, non-government and civil society organisations and civic sector capacity building measures in Russia, including people to people contacts, and look into the facilitation of the visa issuance process;

Amendment 484 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n b (new)

(nb) the EU should strongly demand the end of arbitrary arrests, detention and judicial harassment of political activists and peaceful demonstrators in Russia; it must encourage and support investigations of these abuses and judicial proceedings to hold the responsible of such violations accountable;

Amendment 485 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n c (new)

(nc) suggests that the EU-Russia parliamentary delegation should take on the task of identifying persons of interest, playing a leading role in society, who would be open to the establishment of a constructive and uninterrupted dialogue and to setting up an agenda of public contacts with Russian civil society, its universities, its major scientific and cultural institutions, its non-governmental organizations, its political movements and its artistic and intellectual circles;

Amendment 486 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n c (new)

(nc) the EU should reinforce its financial support to all pro-democracy organisations and activists and to human rights defenders in Russia and should provide all necessary resources to existing programs aimed at the protection of human rights defenders;

Amendment 487 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n c (new)

(nc) the EU should support financially humanity studies programmes in European universities, which would allow Russian people, and students in particular, to be prepared to engage in a democratic transformation of their country;

Amendment 488 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n d (new)

(nd) also calls for the strengthening and facilitation of an enhanced dialogue and cooperation between experts, researchers, civil society and local authorities in the EU and Russia, as well as for an intensification of exchanges of students, professional trainees and young people, in particular in the framework of Erasmus+;

Amendment 489 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n d (new)

(nd) the EU should reinforce its support to the protection of LGBTI people in Russia and other vulnerable communities against abuses and violations, including ill-treatment and torture by security forces, notably in Chechnya;

Amendment 49 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital -A w (new)

-Aw. whereas Russia remains engaged in several parts of the world and seeks to disrupt EU influence in the Eastern Partnership region, the Western Balkans, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America; whereas Russia establishes alternative models for cooperation such as the Eurasian Economic Union not necessarily with the intention to demonstrate its superiority, but to oppose the EU and the West in general;

Amendment 490 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n e (new)

(ne) in its actions aimed at impelling the Russian Federation to comply with the modern standards of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, the EU must pay attention to the unequivocal protection of the rights of religious (e.g. Crimean Tatars, Jehovah's witnesses), sexual, national, ethnic and other minorities, and to the principle of gender equality;

Amendment 491 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Bart GROOTHUIS, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n e (new)

(ne) urges the EU to establish a binding legal framework enabling it to react strongly to campaigns aimed at undermining democracy or the rule of law, including through targeted action against those responsible for such campaigns;

Amendment 492 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n f (new)

(nf) is deeply concerned about the links between the Russian government and far- right parties and populist governments in the EU and must fight against aggressions to democracy;

Amendment 493 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n f (new)

(nf) condemns in strongest terms the unjustified sanctions against the EU officials and calls on the Russian authorities to withdraw them without any delay;

Amendment 494 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Malik AZMANI, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n g (new)

(ng) stresses that money laundering and criminal financial activities perpetrated by Russian nationals constitute a threat to the security and stability of Europe;

Amendment 495 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 5

~~Engagement to support democracy – Eastern Partnership success as an inspiration for the people of Russia~~deleted

Amendment 496 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 5

Engagement to support the Russian people and democracy – Eastern Partnership success as an inspiration for the people of Russia

Amendment 497 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 5

~~Engagement to support democracy – Eastern Partnership success as an inspiration for the people of Russia~~The need to evaluate Eastern Partnership policy

Amendment 498 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n h (new)

(nh) considers that the Union should continue to support the fulfilment by Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus of the political, democratic, social and legal criterias of the Union on which the EU treaties and charters are based;

Amendment 499 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o

(o) the EU should adopt an ambitious strategy to support the successful development of 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 with a view to keeping their motivation for reformsevaluate its Eastern Partnership policy in light of the ongoing wars and increasing problems in EaP countries, and should end the vision of the Eastern Partnership as a geopolitical project to weaken Russia;

Amendment 5 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 c (new)

— having regard to EU restrictive measures in response to the crisis in Ukraine, in force since 2014,

Amendment 50 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas Russia is continuing its aggressive behaviour on the border with Ukraine 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;deleted

Amendment 500 #

Motion for a resolution
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 501 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o

Amendment 502 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o

(o) the EU should adopt an ambitious strategy to support the successful development of democracy and the rule of law in 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 with a view to keeping their motivation for reforms;

Amendment 503 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o

Amendment 504 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o

Amendment 505 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o

(o) the EU should adopt an ambitious strategy to support the successful development of 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 with a view to keeping their motivation for reformscontinue to enhance the Eastern Partnership with the goal of promoting democracy, rule of law, fundamental freedoms and human rights as well as regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations, so that the democratic development and economic and social prosperity of its neighbours may equally benefit their populations and bring the EaP countries closer to the EU;

Amendment 506 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 5 a (new)

Engagement to prepare Russia’s transition, including sectoral cooperation

Amendment 507 #

(oa) the EU should continue institutional cooperation with Russia in international organisations and multilateral treaties in order to promote complementary or equal interests, such as in the realm of environmental issues and the green transformation of both Russia and the EU, including within the framework of the European Green Deal, while cooperation in certain specific fields does not presuppose any concessions regarding values, and the EU should never disregard geostrategic implications and the interests of its partners;

Amendment 508 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o a (new)

(oa) the EU should work towards the establishment of good relations with all its Eastern neighbours, including the biggest one of them which is Russia, as this goes in the best interests of the people of Europe and is a fundamental element to achieve peace;

Amendment 509 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o a (new)

(oa) the EU should express its will to improve relations between the itself and the people of the Russian Federation by the adoption and the publication of an "Address to the Russian people";

Amendment 51 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas Russia is continuing wit~~s aggressive behaviour on the border with Ukraine and interfering with~~h systemic human rights violations towards its people and aggressive behaviour in its foreign policy, including but not limited to: large-scale military exercises and military build-ups, the illegal occupation and annexation of Crimea, the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, acts of terrorism on the territory of EU Member States, such as Czechia, ~~and its eastern neighbours, inter alia by~~cyber-attacks and attacks on sensitive infrastructure in EU Member States, violations of international law, election interference, support~~ing~~ to the illegitimate regime ~~of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus;~~ in Belarus and violations of sea and air space against countries in the Baltic Sea region;

Amendment 510 #

Motion for a resolution
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 511 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o b (new)

(ob) the EU should not implement joint transactional or business projects without prior political due diligence regarding transparency, corruption and political implications, as such projects should not jeopardize our solidarity among EU countries or with EU neighbours, the implementation of projects should not benefit structures of corruption either in Russia or in the EU, and the projects should not have a negative impact on human rights or the environment;

Amendment 512 #

Motion for a resolution
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 513 #

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o c (new)

(oc) the EU should also use the European Green Deal and its climate objectives to work with Russia towards its green transition, in particular in order to accelerate decarbonisation that is still seen as an economic threat in Russia, to lower Russia’s CO2 emissions that are still growing despite its ratification of the Paris Agreement, to increase energy efficiency, and to extend the use of renewables that are still extremely few but for which there is huge potential in Russia; the EU can also help with raising awareness on climate change, which is only slowly spreading across Russia;

Amendment 514 #

Motion for a resolution
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;

Amendment 52 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas Russia is threatening peace and security in Europe by continuing its aggressive behaviour on the border with Ukraine and ~~interfering with acts of terrorism on the territory of EU Member States, such as Czechia, and its eastern neighbours,~~seeking to destabilise neighbouring countries, including inter alia by supporting the illegitimate regime of Alexander Lukashenkoa in Belarus or fuelling frozen conflicts in numerous countries, waging a hybrid warfare against Western societies and interfering with acts of terrorism on the territory of EU Member States, such as Czechia;

Amendment 53 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas Russia has interfered, without regard for international law, with the independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of EU partner countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova; whereas Russia is continuing its aggressive behaviour on the border with Ukraine and in the Black Sea 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 54 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas Russia is continuing its aggressive behaviour ~~on the border with Ukraine~~in occupied territories in Ukraine, on the border with Ukraine, continues to occupy the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia and interfering with acts of terrorism on the territory of EU Member States, such as Czechia Republic, and its eastern neighbours, inter alia by supporting the illegitimate regime of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus;

Amendment 55 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas Russia is continuing its aggressive behaviour on the border with Ukraine 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 56 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas Russia ~~is continuing its aggressive behaviour on the border with~~currently presents a threat to cooperation and security in Europe through its continued aggression against Ukraine ~~and~~, interfer~~ing with acts of terrorism on the territory of EU Member States, such as Czechia, and its~~ence on the territory and in democratic processes of EU Member States and their eastern neighbours, inter alia by supporting the illegitimate regime of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus;

Amendment 57 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Christophe GRUDLER

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas ~~Russia is continuing its aggressive behaviour on the border with Ukraine and interfering with acts of terrorism~~increasing tensions and military operations on the border with Ukraine and other eastern borders onf 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~~EU are a threat to peace in the European continent; whereas both sides would benefit from good neighbourhood relations and should solve all problems politically and on the basis of international law;

Amendment 58 #

Bernard GUETTA, Javier NART, Nathalie LOISEAU, Klemen GROŠELJ, Hilde VAUTMANS, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas ~~Russia~~the current Russian regime is continuing its aggressive behaviour on the border with Ukraine 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 59 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

Amendment 6 #

— having regard to the results of the EU Foreign Affairs Council of 14 March 2016, specifically the agreement on the five principles guiding the EU's policy towards Russia,

Amendment 60 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A

A. whereas Russia is continuing its aggressi~~ve behaviour on the border with Ukraine~~on 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)

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 62 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas Russia is providing consistent political and economic support to the illegitimate and reprehensible regime of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus; whereas Russian support has emboldened the dictator Lukashenko to engage in massive repressions of democratic movements in Belarus, mass detention of political opponents and journalists, and in the hijacking of a European airplane traveling between European destinations, in an unprecedented attack on European and international law;

Amendment 63 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas the Western Balkans region, which includes countries on the official waiting list to join the EU is characterized by a strong Russian presence, particularly Serbia where Russia has intentions to open an office of the Russian defence ministry; whereas in 2016 in Montenegro Russian military intelligence was involved into attempts to overtake country’s parliament, to assassinate the Prime Minister and install a pro-Russian and anti-NATO government, and to prevent Montenegro’s accession to NATO;

Amendment 64 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas the Russian Federation is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as a member of the Council of Europe, and has therefore committed itself to international standards and principles of rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms; whereas Russia increasingly breaches international law and commitments, and acts against good neighbourly relations;

Amendment 65 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas the combination of Western sanctions on Russia, a decrease of revenue from fossil fuel exports, an uncompetitive economy, high military expenditures, and domestic social transfers has caused Russia to face financial difficulties;

Amendment 66 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas it is in our best interest to build mutually beneficial relations between the EU and Russia; whereas the EU should promote dialogue in order to encourage such a relationship;

Amendment 67 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)

Aa. whereas the EU-Russia relations are repeatedly subject to setbacks;

Amendment 68 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)

Ab. whereas the Kremlin regime has involved Russian active-duty intelligence officers in an ammunition depot explosion in 2014 in which two Czech citizens were killed and extensive material damage was caused; whereas the same GRU agents were also responsible for the attempted murder of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the United Kingdom in 2018 using a military- grade Novichok nerve agent; whereas GRU agents were also charged with the attempted murder of Emilian Gebrev, the owner of an arms factory, and two other people in Bulgaria in 2015;

Amendment 69 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)

Ab. whereas the rule of law and an independent judiciary are at the core of resilient democratic societies; whereas the free and independent work of civil society organisations and the media is a cornerstone of a democratic society based on the rule of law;

Amendment 7 #

Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS, Klemen GROŠELJ, Christophe GRUDLER, Frédérique RIES, Dragoş TUDORACHE, Bernard GUETTA, Malik AZMANI

Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)

— having regard to the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which constitutes the legal basis for EU- Russia relations,

Amendment 70 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)

Ab. whereas Russia uses its paramilitary organization (the “Wagner Group”) to support dictatorial regimes around the world and undermine the EU’s and international community’s efforts to mitigate conflicts, build peace and stability;

Amendment 71 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)

Ab. whereas Russia is the EU's largest neighbour and there are strong historical, cultural and human ties between Russia and EU Member States;

Amendment 72 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)

Ab. whereas Russia's failed integration into the European security structures is one of the main reasons for the current confrontational situation in Europe;

Amendment 73 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)

Ab. whereas the Russian President has launched an aggressive foreign policy in order to appear as the defender of Russian interests;

Amendment 74 #

Motion for a resolution
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 75 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)

Ac. whereas the situation of human rights and the rule of law in Russia continues to deteriorate, with systematic efforts by the authorities to silence free speech, limit the freedom of assembly, obstruct opposition activities, react with repressions to any activities aimed at exposing corruption, and stifle the activities of Russian civil society;

Amendment 76 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)

Ac. whereas the sanctions imposed by the Russian Federation on European Parliament President David Sassoli, European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová and six other EU Member States’ officials are unacceptable and baseless because they lack any legal justification;

Amendment 77 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)

Ac. whereas there are many global challenges in which cooperation between the EU and Russia is needed to solve global problems; whereas cooperation between the EU and Russia is vital in several areas including energy and climate change;

Amendment 78 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)

Ac. whereas economic cooperation creates and promotes interdependence and stabilizes the situation in Europe;

Amendment 79 #

Motion for a resolution
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 8 #

Motion for a resolution
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 80 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)

Ad. whereas Russia, the EU and its Member States have a record of cooperation in the Arctic in the context of the Northern Dimension Partnerships; whereas it is of major importance that they continue to cooperate constructively to fight the consequences of climate change in the Arctic region; whereas both sides have the responsibility to ensure the Arctic does not become another subject of military tensions;

Amendment 81 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)

Ad. whereas the ongoing repression of social dissent is reinforced by the impunity of police and security forces as well as by the unwillingness of the judiciary to persecute the real perpetrators of those crimes; whereas representatives of the opposition are systematically subject to verbal attacks, ad hominem campaigns and dehumanization by the government or pro-government media;

Amendment 82 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)

Ad. whereas the founding act of 1997 between NATO and Russia would not allow the additional deployment of substantial NATO combat forces at the border of Russia;

Amendment 83 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A e (new)

Ae. whereas Kremlin continues its hybrid interference into EU domestic politics, mainly by building links between the Russian central authorities and the extreme right and populist nationalist parties and governments in the EU, which pose a threat to the fundamental values of the Union, i.e. the respect for democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights; whereas Putin’s Russia continues its efforts to destabilise EU candidate and associated Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries with the goal to create obstacles or to stop the process of their Euro- Atlantic integration;

Amendment 84 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A e (new)

Ae. whereas over the past two decades there have been a number of attempted or successful assassinations of regime opponents and independent journalists, either within Russia itself or on foreign soil, including those of Anna Politkovskaya, Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei Skripal, Boris Nemtsov, Pyotr Verzilov, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and Alexei Navalny; whereas, according to the Memorial Human Rights Centre, the Russian authorities currently hold nearly 400 political prisoners;

Amendment 85 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A e (new)

Ae. whereas despite the barriers imposed in 2014 the EU is still Russia's biggest trading partner and Russia is the EU's fourth biggest one;

Amendment 86 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A f (new)

Af. whereas new pieces of legislation adopted in December 2020 and January 2021 expanded the scope of individuals and groups that can be designated “foreign agents,” the definition of “foreign funds,” and the requirements for labelling materials; whereas new draft bills proposed in May 2021 aimed at expanding the impact of the law on “undesirable” organisations and imposing bans with retroactive effect on potential candidates for Parliament; whereas in recent years the Russian authorities have been increasingly using the labels of “foreign agents” and “undesirable organisations to stigmatize critics; whereas Russian authorities continue to prosecute people over alleged affiliation with groups designated extremist under Russia’s overly broad counter-extremism law;

Amendment 87 #

Motion for a resolution
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 88 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A g (new)

Ag. whereas as a result of the 2020 constitutional reform, the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman was incorporated into the constitution, and a bill submitted to parliament includes a ban on same-sex marriage and changes that negatively affect transgender people’s rights, including the right to marry and raise children;

Amendment 89 #

Motion for a resolution
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 9 #

Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)

— having in regard to the Russian Federation's membership of the Council of Europe as well as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the consequent commitments and obligations arising from the membership of both organisations,

Amendment 90 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A h (new)

Ah. whereas serious gaps in the official response to widespread gender- based violence and domestic violence continue to exist, including lack of sufficient protection and recourse for survivors; whereas the draft law on domestic violence, introduced in November 2019, fell short of providing a comprehensive definition of domestic violence; whereas in early 2020, parliament deprioritized the draft law’s review, which remains pending; whereas Russia’s ombudsperson noted that domestic violence spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic, with reported cases more than doubling during the spring lockdown;

Amendment 91 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital A h (new)

Ah. whereas the Green Deal is a major instrument of the EU’s geopolitical security and according to the European Commission’s forecasts, if the Green Deal is implemented, the EU’s oil and natural gas imports by 2030 are expected to shrink dramatically with oil imports dropping by 78-79 % and natural gas imports by 58-67 % compared to 2015 figures;

Amendment 92 #

Motion for a resolution
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)

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 94 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas the situation in Russia is deteriorating dreadfully because of President Putin’s systemic repression of democratic forces such as when just two weeks after the arrest of Alexei Navalny Russian authorities detained more than 11 000 peaceful demonstrators, bringing the total number of Russians detained since January 2021 to more than 15 000; 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 issues for addressing impunity is not the capabilities of the Russian law enforcement, but political will';

Amendment 95 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas ~~the situation~~ concerns regarding Russia ~~is deteriorating dreadfully because of President Putin’s systemic repression of democratic forces such as when j~~'s human rights situation cannot be used as an excuste two ~~weeks after the arrest of Alexei Navalny Russian authorities detained more than 11 000 peaceful demonstrators, bringing the total number of Russians detained since January 2021 to more than 15 000~~interfere in Russia's internal affairs;

Amendment 96 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas the situation in Russia is deteriorating dreadfully because of President Putin’s systemic repression of democratic forces such as when just two weeks after the arrest of Alexei Navalny Russian authorities detained more than 11 000 peaceful demonstrators, bringing the total number of Russians detained since January 2021 to more than 15 000, or such as including the network of regional campaign offices of Alexei Navalny in the list of "extremist and terrorist" organizations;

Amendment 97 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas the situation in Russia is deteriorating dreadfully because of President Putin’s systemic repression of democratic forces ~~such as when just two weeks after the arrest of Alexei Navalny Russian authorities detained more than 11 000 peaceful demonstrators~~inside Russia, with one of many examples being the detainment of more than 11 000 peaceful demonstrators by Russian authorities, just two weeks after the arrest of Alexei Navalny, bringing the total number of Russians detained since January 2021 to more than 15 000;

Amendment 98 #

Motion for a resolution
Recital B

B. whereas the ~~situation in Russia is deteriorating dreadfully because of President Putin’s systemic repression of democratic forces such as when just two weeks after the arrest of Alexei Navalny Russi~~Russian government is increasingly reverting to repression to silence its domestic critics, political opposition and a~~uthorities detained more than 11 000 peaceful demonstrators, bringing the total number of Russians detained since January 2021 to more than 15 000~~nti-corruption activists, as demonstrated by the unprecedentedly high number of detentions since the protests against the arrest of Alexei Navalny in January 2021;

Amendment 99 #