BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Parliament on Wednesday passed a resolution designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Military attacks by the Russian government on civilian targets such as energy infrastructure, hospitals, schools and shelters violate international law.
The European Union (EU) has no binding legal force to back this up, and the move is largely symbolic. The EU has already imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine.
“I propose to designate the European Parliament as a supporter of folly,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Zakharova wrote on the Telegram app.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, welcomes the decision of the European Parliament. “Russia needs to be isolated and held accountable at all levels to end its longstanding policy of terror against Ukraine and the world,” he said in a Twitter post.
Both houses in the US House and Senate have passed resolutions declaring Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, but so far US Secretary of State Brinken has refused to do so.
Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria are currently on the US State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism and are subject to arms export bans and financial restrictions.
Four of the EU member states – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland – have so far designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, according to the European Parliament’s research arm.
