The European Parliament has called for Ukraine to be given candidate status
The lawmakers also called on European governments to immediately provide “Ukraine with the necessary weapons.”
MEPs call on Ukraine to grant EU candidate status
The document, addressed to the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, reads: “Give Ukraine candidate status as a clear political sign of solidarity with the Ukrainian people.”
RFE / RL “Nastoyashie Vremya” Of the TV program Deutsche WelleAccording to APA, 438 deputies voted in favor of the resolution, 65 against and 94 abstained.
The deputies also called on European governments to “immediately provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons, make a maximum contribution to the reconstruction of the country after the end of hostilities and create a legal mechanism for the confiscation of frozen assets and funds belonging to Russia to restore Ukraine and compensate for its damage.” .
MEPs also called for support in the investigation of “Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine,” including the convening of a special UN tribunal.
The resolution also notes Moldova’s and Georgia’s efforts to join the European Union. However, the submitted document states that there is no recommendation to grant them candidate status yet. According to the report, these countries applied for membership in the European Union after Ukraine.
According to the source, Ukraine applied for membership in the EU immediately after the Russian attack on February 24 this year, and on May 9 the country submitted the last official application for candidate status.
It should be noted that Azerbaijan also cooperates with the EU within the Eastern Partnership program. The program was established in 2009 to integrate the six former Soviet republics (Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus) more closely with the EU. Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine have already signed association agreements with the EU. In 2017, a partnership agreement was signed with Armenia. Although the same negotiations with Azerbaijan began that year, it is still unclear when this agreement will be signed.
Cooperation with Belarus has been suspended within the Eastern Partnership.
Article 11 of the declaration regrets Belarus’ suspension of its participation in the Eastern Partnership and states that co-operation with Minsk can be resumed after the democratic transition in the country creates the necessary conditions.