BRUSSELS: The European Parliament designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism on Wednesday, arguing that its military strikes against Ukrainian civilian targets such as energy infrastructure, hospitals, schools and shelters violated international law.
European lawmakers have voted in favor of a resolution calling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.
This decision is largely symbolic, as the European Union does not have a legal framework in place to support it. At the same time, the bloc has already imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow reacted angrily to the European Union Parliament decision.
“I propose to appoint the European Parliament as a sponsor of idiocy,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the European Parliament’s decision.
“Russia must be isolated at all levels and held accountable in order to end its longstanding policy of terrorism in Ukraine and around the world,” he wrote on Twitter.
Zelenskiy has urged the United States and other countries to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, accusing its forces of targeting civilians, which Moscow denies.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has so far refused to list Russia despite resolutions from both houses of the Congress urging him to do so.
The US State Department currently designates four countries – Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria – as state sponsors of terrorism, meaning they are subject to a defense export ban and financial restrictions.
In the EU, the parliaments of four countries have so far designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, according to the European Parliamentary Research Service: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland.
European lawmakers have voted in favor of a resolution calling Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.
This decision is largely symbolic, as the European Union does not have a legal framework in place to support it. At the same time, the bloc has already imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow reacted angrily to the European Union Parliament decision.
“I propose to appoint the European Parliament as a sponsor of idiocy,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the European Parliament’s decision.
“Russia must be isolated at all levels and held accountable in order to end its longstanding policy of terrorism in Ukraine and around the world,” he wrote on Twitter.
Zelenskiy has urged the United States and other countries to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, accusing its forces of targeting civilians, which Moscow denies.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has so far refused to list Russia despite resolutions from both houses of the Congress urging him to do so.
The US State Department currently designates four countries – Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria – as state sponsors of terrorism, meaning they are subject to a defense export ban and financial restrictions.
In the EU, the parliaments of four countries have so far designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, according to the European Parliamentary Research Service: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland.
