The Security Council holds a meeting to address the invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations headquarters on February 28, 2022 in New York City. — AFP photo
KUALA LUMPUR (March 1): The European Union (EU) has urged Malaysia to vote in favour of a draft resolution at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to condemn Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, which will be put to the test later this week.
During a press meet at the JW Marriott Hotel in Bukit Bintang here today, three European ambassadors were present — EU’s ambassador to Malaysia, Michalis Rokas; French ambassador to Malaysia, Roland Galharague; and German ambassador to Malaysia, Peter Blomeyer.
“What we are trying to achieve is to convey the same message as the Security Council, that Russia is isolated in what she is doing,” said Galharague.
“Which is why we are calling on Malaysia to vote in favour of this resolution,” he added.
On Friday, the UN Security Council met to vote on a draft resolution that deplored Russia’s “aggression” against Ukraine and demanded the immediate withdrawal of its troops, but Russia vetoed this resolution using its rights as a permanent member of the Security Council.
This then triggered an emergency meeting of the General Assembly — where no country has veto power — which started meeting yesterday to debate the matter.
The 193-member assembly is expected to vote later this week, but could take place as soon as tomorrow.
Galharague reminisced that the UN General Assembly held a vote in 2014 that condemned Russia’s seizure of Crimea, which obtained 100 votes in support — including Malaysia’s.
“And if Malaysia voted in favour of the resolution 2014, then it should certainly vote for the resolution this time around.
“And why? Because Malaysia, like Ukraine, is not a party to any alliance.
“Which means that at the end of the day, the only defence and the ultimate defence lies in the respect of the principles that I just enumerated: territorial integrity, sovereignty, political independence and the right to make their own choices.
“This is not just a white man’s problem,” he said.
The European Union and its members have imposed sanction after sanction against Russia, crippling its key economic sources, denying it air space, and banning its banks from using the SWIFT financial communication system.
When asked if South-east Asian (SEA) countries could expect a similar response from the European Union if a country in the SEA region was invaded by a larger country, Rokas said, “Most definitely, yes”.
He was also asked for his response to the accusation that the EU had previously been slow to respond in other conflicts such as the one between Israel and Palestine.
“It is true the European Union, which is still in the making, perhaps has been seen as weaker in its response (to other invasions).
“But this is wrong, because even in Palestine, it has been the biggest and consistent donor of the Palestinian authorities and Palestinian people, with harsh penalties and export bans on anything that is exploited by the Israeli (such as) settlements on Palestinian land and all that,” he said.
Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine last Thursday, after months of escalating tensions between the two nations, with Russian president Vladimir Putin’s intentions behind the attack unclear to date. — Malay Mail