Europe: Solidarity and Disagreement
Europe: Solidarity and Disagreement
Speakers of 23 parliaments issue open letter to Mike Johnson in Ukraine aid support, The EU has failed to secure an agreement on the law concerning the supply chain, European troops to Ukraine
UPDATES: The Speakers of 23 parliaments and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, sent an open letter to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, to support aid to Ukraine. In this open letter, the parliamentary leaders ask Johnson to introduce HR 815, the US Foreign Assistance Bill, which was passed by the US Senate on February 13, 2024, and provides for an appropriation of $60.06 billion to help Ukraine, to the House of Representatives.
The European Union failed to secure agreement on Wednesday on a controversial law that would hold big companies responsible for human rights and environmental abuses in their supply chains. The rules would have required EU firms with more than 500 staff and €150 million (US$162.7 million) net turnover worldwide to conduct detailed audits of their suppliers and partners, including those in China.
French president opens door to European nations sending troops to Ukraine, although he cautioned that there was no consensus at this stage.
Taken form The south china Morning Post
Photo: The heads of 23 parliaments sent an open letter to US House Speaker Mike Johnson (Getty Images) (Taken form RBC-Ukraine)
Speakers of 23 parliaments issue open letter to Mike Johnson in Ukraine aid support
The Speakers of 23 parliaments and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, sent an open letter to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, to support aid to Ukraine. The letter was initiated by the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, according to a letter published by the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada.
Thus, in this open letter, the parliamentary leaders ask Johnson to introduce HR 815, the US Foreign Assistance Bill, which was passed by the US Senate on February 13, 2024, and provides for an appropriation of $60.06 billion to help Ukraine, to the House of Representatives.
"The bill has now been referred to the House of Representatives and, according to the rules of procedure, Speaker Johnson has the authority to introduce it to the Lower House of the US Congress. We, the speakers of the parliaments, called on Speaker Johnson to facilitate the adoption of a historic decision by the US Congress that will ensure US assistance to foreign countries and provide Ukraine with the necessary funds to continue its struggle," the letter reads.
Open letter to Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson (facebook.com/stefanchuk.official)
Open letter to Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson (facebook.com/stefanchuk.official)
The document emphasizes that the signatories to the letter are committed to further increasing support for Ukraine and its Defense Forces, seeing it as a significant investment in our individual and collective security.
"This will serve as a significant deterrent to further conflicts and will return a sense of control and security to our peoplesю We believe that thanks to your personal leadership. the Congress will demonstrate historic bipartisan unity in support of the collective efforts to assist Ukraine," the authors add. The letter remains open for signature by other parliamentary speakers who wish to join it.
"I really hope that our voice and our call will be heard in the US Congress. Ukraine needs help! Ukraine needs weapons! Ukraine must win!" adds Stefanchuk.
US assistance to Ukraine
On February 28, US House Speaker Mike Johnson said that he would "timely" bring up the extension of aid to Ukraine for a vote, and named the border with Mexico as the priority. In addition, US President Joe Biden also appealed to Congress to help Ukraine, calling for "getting it done," meaning passage of the bill.
The US Senate voted on February 8 to block a bill to allocate funding to support Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan and to secure the US border. According to the results of the vote in the Senate on the night of February 8, 49 lawmakers voted in favor of the initiative, and 50 were against. In total, 60 votes were needed to begin work on the legislative initiative.
However, on February 13, the US Senate voted to finalize the $95.34 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. It should be noted that this is not the final decision of the United States. The bill must now pass the House of Representatives, whose Speaker, Mike Johnson, has already criticized the document.
Read here
EU fails to pass law requiring human rights and environmental audits on Chinese suppliers
By Finbarr Bermingham
The European Union failed to secure agreement on Wednesday on a controversial law that would hold big companies responsible for human rights and environmental abuses in their supply chains.
The rules would have required EU firms with more than 500 staff and €150 million (US$162.7 million) net turnover worldwide to conduct detailed audits of their suppliers and partners, including those in China.
Three years after first coming into force, they would also then be extended to cover non-EU companies who have over €150 million net turnover generated in Europe.
However, a Wednesday vote of the bloc’s 27 members in Brussels fell short of the qualified majority required to adopt the rules.
Big member states including Germany and Italy abstained along with 10 other countries, diplomatic sources confirmed, while Sweden voted against the rules – leaving them below the required threshold of 14 member states with populations representing at least 65 per cent of the union’s citizens.
In a statement, the Belgian government – which now holds the rotating EU presidency – said the “necessary support wasn’t found”.
“We now have to consider the state of play and will see if it’s possible to address the concerns put forward by member states, in consultation with the European Parliament.”
Lara Wolters, the European Parliament’s chief negotiator on the file, said she was “outraged” by the vote.
“Outraged at the political games being played in [European] Council today on due diligence. Flagrant disregard for the European Parliament. Member states need to get their act together because time is running out,” the Dutch lawmaker wrote on X.
An EU diplomat said that members abstained for reasons that included the “administrative burden” and “fear of an uneven playing field on the global stage”.
Pro-business political parties around Europe were concerned about the administrative burden the rules may require. Companies had also warned the laws would have left them disadvantaged when competing against firms that do not have to comply.
An earlier vote scheduled for February 9 was delayed after member states, including Germany and Italy, said they would abstain.
It is the latest in a series of proposed EU rules on environmental issues that have failed to garner the support of its capitals in the run-up to June’s European Parliament elections.
Read here
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at a conference [File: Ludovic Marin/ EPA-EFE/] © Al Jazeera
France’s Macron does not rule out Europeans sending troops to Ukraine
The comments on Monday came after some 20 European leaders gathered in Paris to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a message of European resolve on Ukraine and counter the Kremlin’s narrative that Moscow was bound to win a war now in its third year.
“We are convinced that the defeat of Russia is indispensable to security and stability in Europe,” Macron told reporters after the meeting.
“There’s no consensus today to send in an official, endorsed manner troops on the ground. But in terms of dynamics, nothing can be ruled out,” he said.
“We will do everything that we must so that Russia does not win.”
Macron declined to provide details about which nations were considering sending troops, saying he prefers to maintain some “strategic ambiguity”.
A White House official told the Reuters news agency that the United States had no plans to send troops to fight in Ukraine and that there were also no plans to send NATO troops to fight in Ukraine.
The conference in Paris signalled Macron’s eagerness to present himself as a European champion of Ukraine’s cause, amid growing fears that US support could wane in the coming years. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Poland’s President Andrzej Duda were among the European heads of state and government present at the conference, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined virtually.
Duda said the most heated discussion was about whether to send troops to Ukraine and “there was no agreement on the matter”.
“Opinions differ here, but there are no such decisions,” he said.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has opposed military aid to Ukraine, meanwhile said several NATO and European Union members were considering sending soldiers to Ukraine on a bilateral basis.
“I can confirm there are countries that are prepared to send their own troops to Ukraine, there are countries that say never, among which Slovakia belongs, and there are countries that say this proposal needs to be considered,” he said before boarding his plane home.
The conference was called as Ukraine suffered setbacks on eastern battlefields, with its generals complaining of shortages of arms and soldiers. It saw progress on a Czech-led initiative to buy hundreds of thousands of ammunition rounds from third countries, something that France has been cautious about as it wants to prioritise developing Europe’s own industry.
Ammunition supplies have become a critical issue for Kyiv.
The EU, though, is falling short of its target of sending Ukraine a million rounds of artillery shells by March.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said about 15 countries had agreed to sign up to his initiative. “We are talking about hundreds of thousands of pieces of ammunition we should and could get in relatively short time,” Fiala told reporters.
Defence ministers had been mandated to come up with a plan within the next 10 days, Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa said.
Rutte said the Netherlands would contribute 100 million euros ($108.5m) for the purchase of munitions overseas. He said the countries that would provide the munitions had asked not to be identified.
“I think there was a great sense of urgency, particularly for the short term on ammunition and on air defence,” Rutte said. “I hope other countries will follow.”
Macron also announced a new coalition would be set up to supply Ukraine with “missiles and bombs of medium and long range to carry out deep strikes”. There was a “broad consensus to do more and quicker”, he added, saying there was also a consensus to ramp up joint production of armaments with Ukraine and boost its own military industry.
The Paris conference comes after France, Germany and the UK recently signed 10-year bilateral agreements with Ukraine to send a strong signal of long-term backing as Kyiv works to shore up Western support.