Today, in establishing a Group of Friends of European Ukraine, Urmas Paet, member of European Parliament said that member states should urgently design a similar attitude regarding support to refugees from Eastern-Ukraine.

“This concerns providing help to these 600 000 people who have been granted asylum in other areas in Ukraine. Likewise in EU countries, giving protection and temporary shelter to people who have escaped from Eastern-Ukraine,” he said.

“Certainly the most important thing is to end war and violence in Eastern-Ukraine, and restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Yet at the same time we need to do our best to help people who are suffering,” Paet urged.

According to Paet ratifying EU-Ukraine Association Agreement by EU member states would have symbolic and significant meaning. “It was promised to be a quick process, still only 7 of 28 member states have ratified the agreement, including Estonia,” he added.

It is similarly critical to move on with implementation of visa-freedom to citizens of Ukraine. “Society of Ukraine would make much of it. Citizens of Moldova got visa-freedom from EU in spring, now same should be imposed upon Ukrainians,” Paet stated.

He noted that preventing further breaches of human rights in annexed Crimea and Donbas must get serious attention as well.

47 members belong to the Group of Friends of European Ukraine, who met today with representatives of different political groups of European Parliament.

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Russian military planes that fly in European air space, including Baltic Sea region, with transponders and communication systems switched off, jeopardize passenger planes.

The traffic of Russian military planes has risen espacially above Baltic Sea region. There are several international airports here in Baltic sea region that have a really heavy traffic, planes change heights and manoeuvre. Thus military planes without transponders represent a great threat especially around Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga, Tallinn and Gdansk airports.

I submitted a proposal and a written question to European Commission, calling for measures to change the situation. The change in Convention on International Civil Aviation should be initiated, in order to ban military planes flying blind, without transponders. Situation must be changed before anything catastrophic happens.

“In recent months there have been several situations very close to crash between passenger planes and military planes flying without transponders. This is a severe play with human lives and must be stopped.

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The Zakharov Prize was awarded to Dr.Denis Mukwege from Democratic Republic of Congo for his fight for protection of women against violence

Denis Mukwege is the laureate of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought this year. The Congolese gynecologist is treating victims of sexual violence in a hospital he founded in 1998.

Urmas Paet, a member of the European Parliament, said that awarding the Sakharov prize to Denis Mukwege is very humane and timely. “Violence against women is still very widespread in all parts of the world. Dr.Mukwege has worked hard in combating this abnormality and has helped and brought back to life many people,” Paet added.

Paet said that every person with a conscience must contribute to the elimination of violence against women. “Be it intolerance of domestic violence or taking cases of mass raping into the International Criminal Court,” he added.

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded each year by the European Parliament. It was set up in 1988 to honour individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. Last year the prize was awarded to Malala Yousafzaï, the Pakistani campaigner for girls’ education.

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Urmas Paet, a member of the European Parliament, stated in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the elimination of violence against women, that European Union must work harder towards eliminating violence against women with the aim of zero tolerance policy.

To begin with the European Parliament and all EU Member States must join the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, the Istanbul Convention. “It´s the least we can do. Even this Convention has only been ratified by 8 EU Member States. In addition other legal measures must be adopted by the EU to help eliminate violence against women,” he said.

Paet added that any form of violence against women is a grave violation human rights and makes it impossible for women to enjoy their basic rights to life, security, freedom, dignity as well as physical and emotional immunities. “Violence against women takes many forms from domestic violence to systematic violence for political reasons. By no means can violence be justified by cultural peculiarities or traditions,” he said. According to Paet we must achieve zero tolerance in eliminating violence against women.

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Urmas Paet, member of European Parliament, said he will not be backing the no-confidence vote against Jean-Claude Juncker in the European Parliament this Thursday.

Paet said that the motion to discharge the leader of the European Commission that has only just begun their work was made by members of those political powers of the European Parliament that are opposed to further development and strengthening of the European Union. „The investigation of the Luxleak is not even over yet, but a condemnatory judgment is already sought,“ he said.

„In today’s international environment we need a strong and unified Europe whereas the attempt to distrust the European Commission has the opposite effect and is not in the interests of a strong European Union,“ Paet added.

Paet sees a growing concern rather in the ties between Russia and European right and left wing extreme parties as well as EU opponents. “Also this motion against the president of the EU Commission must be viewed in this context,” he added.

Paet sees no possibility that Thursdays censure vote could pass in the European Parliament since most of the members of the European Parliament consider a stable development of the EU important.

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