Against Ukraine war escalation

On 19 September, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution calling on NATO, the EU, and the EU Member States to further escalate the war in Ukraine.

The resolution calls for accelerating the delivery of weapons, air defense systems and ammunition, including TAURUS missiles. The EP also calls for all EU countries and NATO allies to commit to annual military assistance to Ukraine, jointly and individually, of at least 0.25% of their GDP. Furthermore, it calls on the EU Member States to immediately lift the restrictions on the use of Western weapons systems supplied to Ukraine against legitimate military targets on Russian territory. All of this would introduce a new and extremely dangerous level of war.

We consider it a mistake that this resolution was also supported by Members of the European Parliament from left-wing parties.

The Party of the European Left has condemned the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine from day one and called for a ceasefire, the start of negotiations and the withdrawal of Russian troops. We still stand by this today.

We are convinced that instead of calling for an escalation of the war – until Ukraine’s military victory, and regardless how long it may take – it is in the interest of the European people that the European Union changes its direction. It must finally support the existing political initiatives to end the war, and also take its own initiative for a ceasefire and the start of negotiations.

The EL campaigned for this before the European election and will continue to do so. The EL wants to be part of the broadest possible initiative to end this war. We will have the opportunity to deepen the discussion on peace building strategies at the upcoming European Forum taking place from 8. – 10. November 2024 in Budapest (Hungary) which will put center stage the urgent need for PEACE.