The European Parliament declared on Wednesday that Russia is a state that supports terrorism. The chairman of the Duma’s foreign affairs committee considered the declaration a “fog curtain for Kyiv’s crimes”.
European the parliament’s decision to declare Russia a state that supports terrorism did not arouse great passions in Russia, even though the decision was widely reported. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the lower house of the Parliament, the Duma Leonid Slutsky called the decision meaningless.
“This has no legal significance,” Slutski commented to the news agency Interfax by. “The statement is a fog curtain to cover up Kiev’s war crimes.”
Slutski emphasized that the European Parliament’s decision was made after there was widespread news in the Western media about the “execution of unarmed Russian prisoners of war”.
Slutski was referring to news coverage of a video that was initially circulating on social media, which allegedly shows Russian prisoners being shot by Ukrainian soldiers. Ukrainian authorities and the UN Human Rights Office announced last weekend that they were investigating the allegations.
Read more: The UN and Ukraine say they are investigating videos of alleged war crimes
European Parliament on Wednesday approved by a vote of 494-58 a declaration that Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism and a state that uses the methods of terror. 44 representatives were absent from the vote. The statement was justified by Russia’s illegal war of aggression and the nearly 40,000 war crimes listed by Ukraine.
The meaning of the declaration is mostly symbolic. However, the Parliament encouraged the EU member states to develop legislation that would allow the state to be designated as a sponsor of terrorism.
“So far, the EU, unlike the United States, does not have such a regulation”, said a Lithuanian MEP who participated in the drafting of the statement Andrius Kubilius said for Euronews.
Read more: The European Parliament condemned Russia as a terrorist, hackers immediately followed
of the United States there are four countries on the list of terrorist states: Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria. These countries are subject to US sanctions and export embargoes.
After the 2001 terrorist attacks, the EU drew up a terrorist list, which currently has 13 individuals and 21 organizations. They include, among others, the Palestinian organization Hamas, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK, the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah and the Colombian guerrilla movement ELN.
Changing the list requires the approval of all 27 EU member states.
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