Anġlu Farrugia calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine and states that the EU sanctions are doing more harm than good to Europe

Between 24 and 25 April, the European Union organized a conference for the speakers of the European Union in Prague. As expected, this conference was attended by the Maltese Speaker Anġlu Farrugia. In addition, Roberta Metsola, in her capacity as the President of the European Parliament, was also present. This conference was the final event of a parliamentary dimension organized as part of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The conference was divided into two sessions. The first session was held on 24 April and dealt with the war in Ukraine and the EU response in a broader geopolitical context. The main themes discussed were EU enlargement, energy security, and the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

Yesterday was the turn of the second session, during which the role of the EU as a global player in the formation and cooperation between democracies was discussed. During this session, the speakers also spoke about aspects of dependence of EU member states on totalitarian regimes. In this context, the debate centred around information warfare, disinformation, security of supply chains, and strategic autonomy.

Farrugia took the floor during the first session, and his intervention followed the keynote address. In his speech, Farrugia noted with regret that after more than a year of the war in Ukraine, the conflict is still ongoing, resulting in unrelenting losses and hardships for the Ukrainian people, adding that the impact is being felt in Europe and beyond. He reckoned that parliaments are best placed to promote healthy dialogue, including playing a diplomatic role in furthering the efforts to bring all the stakeholders in this war around the same table. Parliaments, reiterated by the Speaker, are ideal venues for finding a lasting and acceptable solution to end this war.

Speaker Anġlu Farrugia argued that any imposed sanctions must be targeted at ensuring that sanctions and restrictions meant to cripple the Russian economy and the war effort do not result in the unintended consequence of jeopardising domestic security in the EU as well as the wellbeing of other nations. Additionally, Speaker Farrugia called for an immediate ceasefire to enable both sides to take a step back and seize the opportunity to chart a way toward a lasting peace framework. Finally, he expressed his disappointment that Malta’s amendment to this effect to the Presidency conclusions was not brought for debate and excluded from the final text adopted by the conference.

In the margins of the conference, Speaker Farrugia had bilateral discussions with various participants, including President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, Speaker of the Icelandic Althingi BirgirÁrmannsson, and President of the Italian Senate Ignazio La Russa.

The next Speakers of the EU Parliaments conference will be held in Madrid in April 2024.