Members of the European Parliament have called on the EU to impose tougher restrictions on Russia, while European transport and tourism operators have offered to help refugees fleeing Ukraine.
According to a press release issued by the European Parliament, the war in Ukraine has affected the EU transport and tourism sector as fuel prices have risen sharply and, as MEPs have noted, EU transport operators linked to Russian markets should receive support as they reschedule its operations from Russia, according to SchengenVisaInfo.com.
In addition, MEPs are concerned about how the war has affected the aviation sector, as Russia violated international civil aviation rules by forcing foreign aircraft to be re-registered in Russian registries.
In this case, MEPs call on the EU to further tighten sanctions against the Russian maritime sector and deny entry to ships that have moored in Russia on their way to EU ports. In addition, representatives in the EU Parliament believe that all ships that want to call at an EU port should be banned from refueling in Russian ports.
The EU Parliament welcomed Moldova’s official application for EU membership, and the authorities called on the EU to grant the country candidate status.
According to a press release issued by Parliament, Moldova has earned candidate status on the basis of Article 49 TEU and “on merit”.
“The EU should help member countries develop dual-use infrastructure and transport links within the EU, as well as with the Western Balkans, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine,” the MEPs add, advocating the expansion of the trans-European transport network to Ukraine and Moldova,” the press release says. release.
In addition, MEPs criticized the decision of the EU Council to reduce funds for military mobility, which threatens European security. In addition, they called on the Commission to increase the military budget through the Connected Europe Facility program.
At the plenary session, the MEPs called on a bloc of 27 countries to support hotels and other tourist facilities that house Ukrainian refugees. They also demanded that the Commission set up an EU temporary financial program to help travel companies that hire people fleeing the war.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the current war have proven that it is urgent to establish the EU Tourism Agency and the European Crisis Management Mechanism in order to adequately and quickly respond to crises of large scale, such as pandemics, wars, humanitarian crises and the effects of climate change, MEPs said.