22.07.2014

Meeting with Foreign Minister Klimkin on the latest developments in Ukraine

At an extraordinary meeting today, the AFET committee had an exchange of views with Pavlo Klimkin, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, on the latest developments in the country. Members expressed their deepest sorrow for the victims of the crashed plane MH17, and Peter De Gooijer, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the EU, detailed the priorities the international community should follow on the investigation, the recovery of bodies, and the identification of those responsible for this tragedy.

Members of the European Parliament very clearly and unambiguously called for a united line between Member States on tougher sanctions towards Russia, not as a consequence of the plane crash, but to react in view of the Russian authorities‘ unwillingness to control the flow of arms and heavy weapons across the border to the Eastern regions of Ukraine. The Members also called for the EU to act appropriately and impose red lines upon itself when a third party violates European values and principles.

The peace process in the Middle East, the dire humanitarian conditions and the EU’s response to the current situation were also discussed at that meeting. Members called not only for a cease-fire and the resumption of negotiations for a two-state solution but underlined the need for the EU to react without double standards.