Recommendations for the 81st UN General Assembly

Every year, the European Parliament adopts recommendations to the Council, the Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs on what they should advocate at the UN General Assembly. The text for the 81st session was prepared by the Committee on Foreign Affairs, with Andrey Kovatchev (EPP) as rapporteur.

The recommendation was adopted by 369 votes in favour, 160 against and 112 abstentions. It was supported by the EPP (150 in favour, 7 abstentions), the S&D (119 in favour, 1 abstention) and Renew (all 71 in favour). The Greens/EFA, the fourth group in the pro-European majority, mostly abstained: 12 MEPs voted in favour, 35 abstained and none voted against. The EPP did not align with the far right in this vote.

PfE (69 against, 9 abstentions) and ESN (24 against, 2 abstentions) voted against. The ECR mostly abstained (53 abstentions, 15 against, 5 in favour), meaning the far right was not united in its opposition. The Left, i.e. the far left, voted mostly against (31 against, 9 in favour, 3 abstentions).

Shadow rapporteur Nela Riehl (Greens/EFA) spoke during the debate of the “ongoing genocide in Gaza” and called for “UNRWA’s mandate and funding” to be “fully restored” (translated from English). The adopted text does not use the word ‘genocide’ and calls for the restoration of UNRWA ‘with strong oversight and accountability’. Mounir Satouri (Greens/EFA), on the other hand, described the recommendations as “crucial” (translated from French).

The text, which was supported by the EPP, S&D, Renew and 12 Greens/EFA MEPs, names external actors directly. It calls for concern to be expressed regarding the change in stance of “our ally”, namely the US, towards the UN, and to call on the United States, as a permanent member of the Security Council, to fulfil its obligations, uphold the rules-based international order and actively contribute to peace. The EU institutions are to emphasise that the attacks by the United States and Israel are being carried out outside the rules-based multilateral system. They should also condemn the unprecedented threats facing the International Criminal Court, including those from the United States, and call for the activation and strengthening of the EU’s blocking regulation, which is designed to protect the independence of international courts.

They should once again strongly condemn Russia’s unlawful act of aggression against Ukraine. According to the text, Russia has lost its legitimacy as a permanent member of the Security Council due to its flagrant violation of the UN Charter, in particular its war of aggression against Ukraine. The EU should advocate the view that Russia’s status as a permanent member is legally questionable, as Article 23 of the Charter refers to the Soviet Union, not Russia. The EU should support the UN in seeking legal ways to use frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine. With regard to China, the text states that UN Resolution 2758 cannot be used to exclude Taiwan from the international system.

With regard to Israel, the recommendation calls for a condemnation of its unilateral measures to expand its presence in the West Bank and the expansion of Israeli settlements, which the International Court of Justice has declared illegal. It also calls for condemnation of the escalating violence by extremist settlers, the forced displacement of Palestinians and the bill approved by the Knesset which extends the scope of the death penalty. The EU should seek, within the Security Council, targeted restrictive measures against Israeli settlers who commit acts of violence against Palestinians. The text also emphasises that a sustainable future for Gaza requires the demilitarisation of Hamas and other armed groups, which should play no role in the administration of the territory.