11 February 2016

Human rights situation in Crimea: A brief analysis of the EP vote

On 3 February 2016, the European Parliament adopted a resolution "on the human rights situation in Crimea, in particular of the Crimean Tatars". The resolution reminds that "the Russian Federation has illegally annexed Crimea and Sevastopol and therefore violated international law, including the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and the 1997 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between the Russian Federation and Ukraine".

Essentially, the European Parliament "reiterates its strong commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders" and "calls on Russia to start negotiations with Ukraine and other parties on the de-occupation of Crimea".

584 MEPs took part in the vote; of them 472 (81%) supported the resolution, 79 (14%) voted against it, and 33 (6%) abstained.

The voting pattern is very similar to what we observed before: the overwhelming majority of the votes against the resolution has come from the far right, eurosceptic and (far) left parties. Here is the full list of MEPs who gave voted against the resolution.


Country/MEP
Party
Ideological orientation
Austria


Barbara KAPPEL
FPÖ
radical right-wing populism
Georg MAYER
FPÖ
radical right-wing populism
Franz OBERMAYR
FPÖ
radical right-wing populism
Harald VILIMSKY
FPÖ
radical right-wing populism



Cyprus


Takis HADJIGEORGIOU
Progressive Party of Working People - Left - New Forces
communism
Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS
Progressive Party of Working People - Left - New Forces
communism



France


Marie-Christine ARNAUTU
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Nicolas BAY
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Dominique BILDE
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Marie-Christine BOUTONNET
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Steeve BRIOIS
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Mireille D'ORNANO
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Edouard FERRAND
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Sylvie GODDYN
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Bruno GOLLNISCH
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Jean-François JALKH
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Patrick LE HYARIC
Front de Gauche
communism
Marine LE PEN
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Dominique MARTIN
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Sophie MONTEL
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Jean-Luc MÉLENCHON
Front de Gauche
communism
Joëlle MÉLIN
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Younous OMARJEE
L'union pour les Outremer
left-wing radicalism
Florian PHILIPPOT
Front national
radical right-wing populism
Jean-Luc SCHAFFHAUSER
Rassemblement bleu Marine
radical right-wing populism
Marie-Christine VERGIAT
Front de Gauche
communism



Germany


Thomas HÄNDEL
Die Linke
socialism
Sabine LÖSING
Die Linke
socialism
Helmut SCHOLZ
Die Linke
socialism
Udo VOIGT
NPD
neo-Nazism
Gabriele ZIMMER
Die Linke
socialism



Greece


Nikolaos CHOUNTIS
Popular Unity

Georgios EPITIDEIOS
Golden Dawn
neo-Nazism
Lampros FOUNTOULIS
Golden Dawn
neo-Nazism
Stelios KOULOGLOU
Coalition of the Radical Left
left-wing radicalism
Notis MARIAS
[independent]
[independent]
Sofia SAKORAFA
[independent]
[independent]
Eleftherios SYNADINOS
Golden Dawn
Neo-Nazism



Hungary


Zoltán BALCZÓ
Jobbik
radical right-wing populism



Ireland


Luke Ming FLANAGAN
[independent]
[independent]



Italy


Isabella ADINOLFI
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Marco AFFRONTE
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Laura AGEA
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Daniela AIUTO
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Tiziana BEGHIN
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Mara BIZZOTTO
Lega Nord
radical right-wing populism
Mario BORGHEZIO
Lega Nord
radical right-wing populism
David BORRELLI
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Gianluca BUONANNO
Lega Nord
radical right-wing populism
Fabio Massimo CASTALDO
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Ignazio CORRAO
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Rosa D'AMATO
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Eleonora EVI
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Laura FERRARA
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Lorenzo FONTANA
Lega Nord
radical right-wing populism
Eleonora FORENZA
Lista Tsipras-L'Altra Europa
social democracy
Piernicola PEDICINI
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Matteo SALVINI
Lega Nord
radical right-wing populism
Barbara SPINELLI
[independent]
[independent]
Dario TAMBURRANO
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Marco VALLI
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Marco ZANNI
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism
Marco ZULLO
Movimento 5 Stelle
euroscepticism



Latvia


Andrejs MAMIKINS
"Saskaņa" sociāldemokrātiskā partija
social democracy
Tatjana ŽDANOKA
Latvijas Krievu savienība
social democracy



Netherlands


Vicky MAEIJER
Partij voor de Vrijheid
right-wing populism
Olaf STUGER
Partij voor de Vrijheid
right-wing populism
Auke ZIJLSTRA
Partij voor de Vrijheid
right-wing populism



Poland


Robert Jarosław IWASZKIEWICZ
Kongres Nowej Prawicy
euroscepticism
Janusz KORWIN-MIKKE
KORWiN
euroscepticism
Michał MARUSIK
Kongres Nowej Prawicy
euroscepticism
Stanisław ŻÓŁTEK
Kongres Nowej Prawicy
euroscepticism



Portugal


João FERREIRA
Partido Comunista Português
communism
Marisa MATIAS
Bloco de Esquerda
eurosceptic social-democracy
Miguel VIEGAS
Partido Comunista Português
communism



Spain


Marina ALBIOL GUZMÁN
Izquierda Unida
communism
Javier COUSO PERMUY
Izquierda Unida
communism
Lidia SENRA RODRÍGUEZ
Alternativa galega de esquerda en Europa
left-wing separatist


Some brief observations:

1. In comparison to the previous EP vote on Russia ("State of EU-Russia relations"), the share of the "against" votes decreased from 19% to 14%. (Abstentions decreased from 10% to 6%.) This means that fewer MEPs are now ready to remain favourable to, or uncritical of, Russia's aggressive foreign policy.

2. Already for the second time, Belgian MEP Gerolf ANNEMANS from the far right Vlaams Belang abstained, although previously he used to vote against the resolutions critical of Russia's actions.

3. Peter LUNDGREN and Kristina WINBERG from the far right Sweden Democrats have made further progress: in the previous vote on the Russia-related resolution they abstained, while they earlier used to vote against similar resolutions. This time, they supported the resolution, and, therefore, rebelled against their Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group.

4. The overwhelming majority of the MEPs from eurosceptic UKIP supported the resolution (except for Tim AKER who abstained), although they used to vote against similar resolutions in the past.

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2 comments:

  1. Don't forget Podemos. They also have shifted their position from anti-NATO to pro-NATO because they are expecting to be part of a coalition government with the notorious extremists of centre PSOE. In recent elections Podemos included a General of Spanish Air Forces, experimented in air bombing over cities as Tripoli or Belgrade.

    ReplyDelete
  2. People have the right to be stupid.

    ReplyDelete

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