The European Parliament passed on Tuesday a resolution calling for halting the Nord Stream 2 project, extending the anti-Russian sanctions and abandoning Russia as a strategic partner
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2019) The European Parliament passed on Tuesday a resolution calling for halting the Nord Stream 2 project, extending the anti-Russian sanctions and abandoning Russia as a strategic partner.
The resolution, introduced by Latvian parliamentarian Sandra Kalniete, was supported by 402 lawmakers. A total of 163 deputies voted against the document and 89 more abstained.
"EU should stand ready to consider adopting further sanctions, including targeted personal sanctions, in response to Russia's continued actions," the resolution says.
The bloc's dependency on Russian gas supplies has surged since 2015, according to the resolution.
"Nord Stream 2 reinforces EU dependency on Russian gas supplies, threatens the EU internal market and is not in line with EU energy policy, and therefore needs to be stopped," the document says.
The resolution also calls on the European Commission and the European External Action Service to urgently develop legislative proposals on the creation of a EU version of Magnitsky Act, which would allow introducing visa bans and targeted sanctions for selected individuals within EU jurisdiction.
The lawmakers also called for renewal on the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Union and Russia.
At the same time, the document notes that the European Union remained open for strengthening relations and dialogue and would like to return to cooperation with Moscow when the Russian authorities fulfill their legal and international obligations.
The resolution also included an amendment calling for ways to preserve Russia's membership in the Council of Europe (CoE).
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denounced claims that Russia was determined to leave the Council of Europe as provocations. According to the minister, Russia is doing everything possible to find on a solid basis of the CoE Charter a way out of the current artificially created crisis.
The European lawmakers, who voted against the resolution, called the document a mistake that undermines the credibility of the European Union.
"I am surprised by the level of hostility that the rapporteur was able to put in this document, which says that relations with Russia are built on deterrence and isolation. It gives many recommendations on how to limit cooperation with Russia, but does not make recommendations on how to resume communication. The document also undermines credibility of EU message, expressing certain convictions, condemnations and accusations on matters that were not even investigated," a member of the European Parliament from Latvia, Andrejs Mamikins, said after the vote.
According to the lawmaker, the more efficiently the sanctions are weakening the Russian economy, the more they undermine the European Union's own goals, because a weaker Russia will not become a better partner.
The real challenge to EU foreign policy is not Russia, as stated in the resolution, but those European forces that "preach confrontation," Mamikins believes.
This position was supported by his colleague from Bulgaria, Momchil Nekov.
"I agree with my colleague. Russia is a country of strategic importance for most of Europe, I think we are making a strategic mistake," the lawmaker said, commenting on the outcome of the vote.
In particular, he noted that one of the resolution's paragraphs included a condemnation of Russia's alleged involvement in the "Skripal case," which was never confirmed.
"Apparently, our colleagues, who supported this document, are more aware than the intelligence services," Nekov said.
On March 4, 2018, former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench near a shopping center in Salisbury. London claimed they were poisoned with a military-grade A234 nerve agent and accused Moscow of staging the attack, provoking a huge international scandal.
The Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed the claims about Russia's involvement in the attack and stressed that Moscow has been denied access both to the investigation into the incident and to the Russian nationals. Although both Sergei and Yulia Skripals are said to have recovered from the attack, Russian diplomats working in the United Kingdom say that no one has personally seen them since last March and the fate of the Russian nationals, therefore, remains unknown.
