Security in the Eastern Partnership area and the role of Common Security and Defence Policy
The European Parliament adopted by 490 votes to 59, with 38 abstentions, a resolution on security in the Eastern Partnership area and the role of the common security and defence policy.
The Eastern Partnership has been confronted in recent years with serious violations of international law, security threats and conflicts, culminating in the current Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. There is a need to develop a strategy on how to better address the security aspects of the Union's policy towards the Eastern Partnership.
Parliament reaffirmed the Union's commitment and underlined its unequivocal support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all Eastern Partnership countries within their internationally recognised borders. It stressed the importance of the unity and solidarity of the Member States in this respect.
Stressing the importance of lasting peace and security in the Eastern Partnership region for the European Union, Parliament called for an immediate end to the war of aggression against Ukraine and the full and immediate withdrawal of all Russian troops from all Russian-occupied territories in the Eastern Partnership countries, as well as an end to military hostilities against Ukraine.
Members support closer coordination and cooperation on defence and security issues with some Eastern Partnership countries. They believe that the peaceful resolution of ongoing and unresolved conflicts in the region, based on international law, and good neighbourly relations are essential to establish and strengthen resilient and sustainable democracies in the Eastern Partnership.
Parliament called for an increased focus on reconciliation and rebuilding community ties in light of the divisions in the Eastern Partnership region. It suggested closer co-ordination with the OSCE in addressing security issues in the EaP region, in particular in the areas of trafficking in human beings, arms control, instrumentalised migration, confidence-building and dialogue between all parties to the crisis. It stressed the importance of EU and NATO cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries in the Black Sea region to ensure the security and stability of the region.
The EU institutions should develop a more ambitious integration agenda for Ukraine, which could include concrete measures to achieve the first intermediate stage of Ukraine's gradual integration into the EU single market. The Commission is invited to thoroughly assess, on the basis of merit, the applications for candidate status of Georgia, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.
Fully exploiting the potential of CSDP in the Eastern Partnership Area
Members welcomed the fact that the adopted Strategic Compass gives adequate focus to the Eastern Partnership countries, in particular by supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. They stressed the need to ensure that it is closely coordinated and coherent with NATO's future Strategic Concept 2022, especially in the areas of countering Russian aggression, cyber defence and combating hybrid warfare, disinformation, foreign manipulation and interference. Member States should ensure that CSDP missions in the associated countries of the Eastern Partnership provide for close coordination with NATO's strategy and actions in the region.
Parliament encouraged the EU and its Member States to extend support mechanisms for the continued participation of Eastern Partnership countries in CSDP civilian and military missions and operations, with a view to helping to increase the interoperability of partners, develop common procedures and joint actions.
Members welcomed the Council's agreement on 13 April 2022 on a third tranche of military support under the European Peace Facility, totalling EUR 1.5 billion, to provide lethal military equipment as well as fuel and protective gear. They have requested immediate delivery.
Member States are encouraged to (i) increase the EU Peace Facility budget to enable the EU to strengthen the resilience and defence capabilities of the Eastern Partnership countries, (b) further strengthen Ukraine's military resilience through the delivery of weapons, including ship, aircraft and tank defence weapons.
Enhancing collaboration with institutions and tools
Parliament called on the EU and NATO allies to support enhanced military security cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries. It stressed the importance of enhanced cooperation between the EU and NATO with regard to escalating situations such as the ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The EU is called upon to strengthen cooperation with NATO in order to support the strengthening of the defence and security capabilities of partners in the Eastern neighbourhood.
The resolution stressed the need for the EU and its Member States to strengthen cooperation with Eastern Partnership partners, in particular with regard to strategic communication on disinformation and information manipulation and the fight against foreign interference. It stressed the need for the Union to strengthen its institutional capacity for conflict prevention, mediation, dialogue and de-escalation in the Eastern Partnership regions.
Developing CSDP's political and strategic capabilities in the Eastern Partnership region
Parliament called on the Commission, the EEAS and, in particular, the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC) to ensure that the EU Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform in Ukraine (EUAM) continues to prioritise the reform of the Ukrainian security service and to broaden the scope of cooperation with the latter in the areas of cyber security and the fight against terrorism and hybrid threats after the lifting of the state of emergency. Members called for an extension of the EUAM's mandate in the areas of countering hybrid threats, strategic communication and digital technology.
Member States are encouraged to (i) extend EUAM's cooperation to all anti-corruption structures involved in civil security sector reform; (ii) extend their support to EUAM's digital transition efforts in the context of civil security sector reform in Ukraine; and (iii) strengthen their support for Ukraine's efforts to resist Russian aggression and to continue its defence sector reform.
Parliament called for an immediate embargo on Russian imports of oil, coal, nuclear fuel and gas, and for the complete abandonment of Nord Stream I and II. It also called for monitoring the development of China's presence in the Eastern Partnership countries.