On November 28, the European Parliament passed a second Ukraine resolution with the martial-sounding title "Strengthening the EU's Unwavering Support for Ukraine Against Russia's War of Aggression and the Increasing Military Cooperation Between North Korea and Russia." This resolution was adopted by a majority from the political groups of conservatives, socialists, liberals, and greens. The demands contained therein make even a neutral observer's blood run cold.
Back in July, the parliament had passed a resolution that essentially called for a total war against Russia. But this new resolution goes even further—it is a virtual call for World War III.
Most significantly, in this latest resolution, the European Parliament demands that European states provide Ukraine with the long-range cruise missiles needed to carry the war deep into Russia and calls on member states not to be deterred by any Russian threats to respond to this with nuclear weapons. More specifically, it calls on member states for the immediate delivery to Ukraine of fighter jets able to carry long-range cruise missiles, including Taurus cruise missiles with a 500 km range. It further calls for the ATACMS, SCALP cruise missiles, and Storm Shadows already supplied by the US, UK, and France, each with a 300 km range, to be freely deployed against military targets inside Russia.
What the resolution completely elides is the fact that launching such missiles would need qualified NATO military staff and that any decision to deploy these cruise missiles would thus make NATO an active war party. This would hence profoundly change the character of this war and would turn this from a proxy war to a direct NATO-Russia engagement. With this, the European Parliament dangerously ignores the fact that this could trigger a Third World War, and that such a war would likely be nuclear in character.
No consideration is given as to how Russia might respond to NATO escalation, nor to the fact that a Third World War would inevitably be fought on European soil with unimaginable horrific consequences for European citizens. It proves once again that the members of the European Parliament operate in an insulated bubble, seemingly long detached from the reality outside their institution.
The 13-page resolution is a laundry list of accusations, threats, demands for weapons and ammunition deliveries, pleas for more money for the war, and calls for further sanctions. But one aspect is completely missing: any approach to peacefully resolving the conflict. Not a single mention is made of diplomatic steps or negotiations with which to prevent the risk of an all-out nuclear war in Europe. The goal of the parliamentary majority is clear: victory over Russia—at all costs. Even if these involve the lives of hundreds of millions of European civilians?
How mad all of this is shows in another aspect: during the debate, some deputies emphasized the need to take advantage of the small time window to bring Russia to its knees before the inauguration of Donald Trump on 20 January 2025. This is insanity on every conceivable level. Although the resolution calls on EU member states to engage with a future President Trump to convince him of the necessity of a victory over Russia, it all sounds unconvincing. More likely is a bizarre situation in which Trump will save us from our own European war-crazed politicians.
This resolution is a document full of hatred, panic, and hysteria. It is a disgraceful expression of irresponsibility and lack of empathy for the many victims of such war fever. There is nothing in it for us Europeans to be proud of here. Fortunately, this resolution will likely have little direct political impact on the Ukraine war. The European Parliament has once again proven that it acts as nothing more than a talking shop. In this case, that may even be a blessing for all of us.
For me, who has always been a supporter of the European idea, it is painful to witness the debates of a war-crazed and hate-filled EU parliamentary majority. And I ask myself: What kind of warmongering monster have we created with the EU?