European People’s Party Votes to Accelerate Ukraine’s EU Accession

From April 29–30, the European People’s Party (EPP) is holding its congress in Valencia, Spain. On the first day, the "parent party" of Peter Magyar’s Tisza Party adopted an emergency resolution titled Solidarity with Ukraine, calling for sending more weapons to Ukraine, integrating its defense industry into European frameworks, restricting Rosatom’s activities in Europe, and fast-tracking Ukraine’s EU membership.

Peter Magyar and Manfred Weber (Photo: AFP/Attila Kisbenedek)

The full emergency resolution, adopted on April 29 by the EPP Congress’s resolution committee, was published by Bennfentes.net. The document makes it clear that the EPP wants to send more weapons and financial support to Ukraine, integrate Ukraine’s defense industry into European frameworks, restrict Rosatom’s European activities, and fast-track Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

 Brussels truly wants to decide about Ukraine’s EU membership over our heads,

the portal emphasized.

Core Principles of the EPP Resolution

• Reaffirming our united determination to use all means to end Russia’s unprovoked, illegal, terrorist, and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine;
• Agreeing that at this stage the crucial task is to strengthen Ukraine — politically, militarily, financially, legally, economically and regarding humanitarian conditions — with solid long-term security guarantees on its way to EU and NATO membership;
• Reaffirming that any agreement negotiated without Ukraine and European allies at the table — one that fails to guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, lacks clear security commitments and undermines the European security architecture centred on NATO and the EU — will not bring just, sustainable and lasting peace, but will instead embolden Russia to continue further aggression and war; The European People’s Party invites all interested parties:

EPP: Accelerating EU Integration

• To accelerate accession negotiations during the Polish and Danish Presidencies of the Council of the EU by opening all negotiation clusters as early as possible in 2025, exploring the possibility of using a unanimity vote just for the closing of negotiating chapters;
• and to speed up Ukraine’s integration into the EU internal market and the process of EU internal reform in order to meet the challenges of the next enlargement;

Strengthening Defense Cooperation

• The EPP urges to approve the SAFE Regulation as soon as possible and to start to effectively use the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030;
• to build up new EU instruments based on this initiative (as the EU’s Lend-Lease for Ukraine) or other instruments, such as North/East Border Defence Shield, European Air Defence Shield, European Ammunition or European Military Mobility;
•  and to strengthen Europe's defence industry through joint procurement, industrial cooperation and investment in next-generation military technology; 
• To bring forward the proposal of the European Commission for assisting EU Member States and associated partners, including Ukraine, with the implementation of European defence projects of common interests;
• To establish a configuration for defence at the Council of the EU, strengthen the EU Defence Innovation Office in Kyiv and bring forward the European Commission’s proposals to support investments and procurement for the ramping-up of a Ukrainean defence industry fully integrated into the EU’s Industry Output Plan — encouraging cooperation with the Ukrainian defence industry and establishing joint ventures and direct purchases of defence products for Ukraine from Ukrainian manufacturers; 

Increasing Military Aid

• The EPP urges to immediately start increasing defence spending at least according to NATO guidelines and to raise direct military support to Ukraine; 
• To ensure proper training of Ukrainian servicemen within the framework of the EU Military Assistance Mission, partaking in the initiative to train and equip Ukrainian brigades, and to welcome the launch of a ''coalition of the willing'' to enable a European-led enforcement of an eventual peace agreement;
• To maximise and accelerate military-technical assistance to Ukraine by providing it with air-defence systems (particularly Patriot and SAMP/T), MANPADS, artillery systems, large-calibre artillery ammunition, shells, long-range missiles, armour, electronic warfare systems, engineering and demining equipment, drones, equipment for the development of strong and effective fortification systems and defence lines; and to lift all restrictions on the use of weapons supplied to Ukraine for strikes on legitimate targets on Russian territory;  

Economic Sanctions and Financial Support

• The EPP calls for concrete action in 2025 on the use of immobilised Russian assets, such as developing legal solutions which go beyond windfall profits and allow for the full confiscation of Russian assets for Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction, and which create a long-term financial mechanism beyond the Ukraine Facility to maintain Ukraine’s defence industry, economic resilience and recovery beyond 2027 — all while safeguarding the stability and predictability of the global financial system;
• The EPP urges to extend sanctions to other key Russian economic sectors (e.g., metallurgy, IT, f inancial sectors, agriculture); to increase EU maritime surveillance and hold Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ accountable; to impose new measures to reduce the revenues fueling Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; and to eliminate dependence on Russian fossil fuels by banning Russian LNG imports into the EU, by restricting the activities of Rosatom and by imposing sanctions against countries and entities involved in sanctions circumvention; 

Democracy and Internal Cohesion

• The EPP calls for the design of new instruments to support democracy and tackle the Kremlin regime's disinformation and propaganda campaigns directed at EU neighbourhood countries and within Russia against the Russian population; 
• The EPP urges to call on the Ukrainian authorities to strengthen Ukraine's internal political unity and democratic resilience; to uphold multi-party and media pluralism; and to engage in constructive, inclusive cooperation with political parties in the Verkhovna Rada in line with the democratic principles and values being bravely and resolutely defended by the Ukrainian people
  
  Cover photo: Peter Magyar and Manfred Weber (Photo: AFP)