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 weobservedbefore: 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 Belangabstained, 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.