Statement on the situation in Ukraine
The co-chairmen of the EPP Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Radek Sikorski, Foreign Minister of Poland, and Elmar Brok, MEP and Chairman of the AFET Committee, issued the following statement on the situation in Ukraine prior the May 12 Foreign Affairs Council:• We call on the EPP partners, the national parliaments of the EU and OSCE Member States
and the European Parliament to send the largest possible number of observers to monitor the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine.
• The sanctions against Russia must be aimed at Russian decision-makers and some companies. The sanctions should also cover decision-makers’ family members.
• If the May 25 polls are disrupted by external forces, additional sanctions should be imposed, targeting especially those responsible for the destabilization.
• We are in favor of decentralization of Ukraine, but not in the form of a Bosnia and Herzegovina-style dysfunctional confederation.
• We warn Russia not to carry out a military intervention in Ukraine under the cover of a “peacekeeping operation”.
• Europe should create an Energy Union which should include joint EU purchases of oil and gas by the European Commission so as to lower prices for European industry and consumers.
• We support greater NATO presence on the Alliance’s Eastern flank as a result of the continuing Russian aggressive policy.
Note to editors:
Note to editors:
The EPP is the largest and most influential European-level political party of the centre-right, which currently includes 73 member-parties from 39 countries, the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, 12 EU and 6 non-EU heads of state and government, 13 members of the European Commission and the largest Group in the European Parliament.
For more information:
Kostas Sasmatzoglou, EPP Spokesman, Tel. +32-2-2854147
Javier Jiménez, EPP Director of Press and Communications, Tel. +32-475480446