By Elijah de Castro
During the first day of the 2022 Global Model European Union simulation, delegates of the Heads of Government council held discussions and multiple rounds of debate regarding the European Union response to rising military tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Since early 2014, Russia and Ukraine have been fighting a slow-moving war that began with Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Since then, the war has been confined to the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula. However, in late October 2021, the conflict increased sharply in scale when Russia significantly increased its troop and military presence along the Ukrainian border. The European Union, the United States and their respective allies have been pursuing diplomatic solutions to the situation.
Out of the Heads of Government meeting, economic sanctions on Russia were strongly supported by most member nations. The delegates of Finland and Estonia fought for sanctions that would result in increasing consequences for Russia each time they violated airspace infractions.
During the past year, both Estonia and Finland have had multiple instances of Russian aircrafts flying unidentified across their borders.
“This is a horribly aggravating abuse of our airspace and military sovereignty,” Kaja Kallas of Estonia said. “It presents a threat to our EU borders. This is one of the main actions that Russia has done to instill fear within our borders, and to try and secure their claim over Ukraine.”
An extension of a travel ban on key Russian government officials and oligarchs for six months as a form of sanction was passed. However, Mario Dragh of Italy argued that isolating Russian government officials from potential diplomatic talks is undemocratic.
Sanctions on Russian exports were discussed favorably, as the Russian economy largely depends on selling natural resources. Many member countries saw sanctions as an opportunity to make the European Union’s energy grid independent, renewable and modern. Sanctioning Nord Stream 2, a proposed natural gas pipeline that will move large amounts of natural gas from Russia to Germany, was also discussed as an option by the Council President, Charles Michel.
“Everything’s on the table, especially with this newly new Russian aggression,” Michel said. “We’re not going to drag our feet like we did with Crimea. We are going to assure the members of this council that our ability to make strategic decisions when it comes to Russia will not be affected by the construction of the pipeline.”
In addition to sanctions, two major pro-Ukrainian commitments were debated and passed. The first will invest in Ukrainian infrastructure and fight corruption in the Ukrainian political establishment. The other commitment will financially support Ukrainian students who wish to study abroad at colleges and universities in member EU countries. The infrastructure spending will be done through interest-free loans, bonds and grants.
The delegate from Belgium, Alexander de Croo, offered criticisms of this approach, saying that it would result in reaffirming pro-Russian political opinions on Ukraine.
“The more we aid and help Ukraine, the more Russia solidifies its current stance on Ukraine,” de Croo said. “We must keep that in mind. We do not want Russia to move itself even further into Ukraine. So we should be careful in how to effectively do international aid.”
The committee emphasized support for further sanctions and its strong opposition for direct military conflict, declaring it a last resort solution to the issue. Sanctions on Russian financial institutions — which would involve freezing assets and cutting ties with Russian banks — were considered, but not voted on. A public statement was not passed by the council. However, the Council President said talks will continue Jan. 14.