European Parliament declares Russia state sponsor of terrorism

European lawmakers have voted in favor of a resolution designating Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

The EU Parliament argued that Russia’s military strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets such as energy infrastructure, hospitals, schools and shelters violated international law.

The move is largely symbolic, as the European Union does not have a legal framework in place to back it up.

At the same time, the bloc has already imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the European Parliament’s decision.

“Russia must be isolated at all levels and held accountable in order to end its long-standing policy of terrorism in Ukraine and across the globe,” he wrote on Twitter.

Zelenskiy has urged the United States and other countries to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, accusing its forces of targeting civilians, which Moscow denies.

Also Read: Russian State TV Airs Videos of Two Missing Americans in Ukraine

Moscow reacted angrily to the European Parliament’s decision.

“I propose designating the European Parliament as a sponsor of idiocy,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.

According to the European Parliamentary Research Service, the parliaments of four countries In the EU; Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland have so far designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has so far refused to list Russia despite resolutions in both chambers of Congress urging him to do so.

The U.S. State Department currently names four countries – Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria – as state sponsors of terrorism, meaning they are subject to a defense export ban and financial restrictions.

Zainab Sa’id