The European Parliament adopted by 540 votes to 6, with 36 abstentions, amendments to the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the non-recognition of Russian travel documents issued in occupied foreign regions.
The matter was referred back to the committee responsible for inter-institutional negotiations.
The main amendments adopted in plenary concern the following points:
Refusal of Russian passports from occupied regions
According to Members, Russian travel documents issued in regions or territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine (the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol; the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia) or in breakaway territories of Georgia (Abkhazia and South Ossetia) or issued to persons residing there, should not be accepted as valid travel documents when issuing visas or crossing external borders.
The Commission should draw up, with the assistance of Member States, a list of not accepted Russian travel documents, per region or territory. The list to be drawn up by the Commission should include the dates from which those Russian travel documents started to be issued in those regions or territories and from which the travel documents issued after those dates should not be accepted.
The list should be adopted by means of an implementing act, be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and be incorporated in the list of travel documents established under Decision No 1105/2011/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, and set out in the accompanying table of travel documents issued by third countries and territorial entities and which is publicly available online.
Derogations, preservation of the right to asylum
Member States should be able to grant a derogation to: (i) persons who were Russian citizens at the time when Russian documents started to be issued in the occupied region or territory in question or in a breakaway territory, or to the descendants of such persons; and (ii) children or legally incapacitated persons at the time when they obtained Russian citizenship through the simplified naturalisation procedure provided under Russian law.
naturalisation procedure under Russian law.
Members want to preserve the right of everyone to flee the conflict in Ukraine and to enter the EU on humanitarian grounds. The decision should not affect the EU's asylum acquis, in particular the right to seek international protection.
Amendment of the list of occupied territories
In order to take account of relevant legal and political developments, Parliament proposes to empower the Commission to add or remove new regions to the list of occupied territories by means of delegated acts. In order to allow the Union to respond quickly in a rapidly evolving situation, it is appropriate to provide for the immediate application of the relevant delegated act where imperative grounds of urgency so require.