On the 28th (local time), the European Parliament condemned the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea while indirectly urging South Korea to support Ukraine.
On the same day, at the plenary session in Strasbourg, France, the European Parliament adopted a resolution related to the Russia-Ukraine war, stating that it "calls on the European Union (EU) and its member states to seek a change in South Korea's position on providing weapons support to Ukraine in order to supply substantial military resources for Ukraine's defense operations."
The resolution also asserted that "through enhanced cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other judicial bodies, accountability must be sought for war crimes and violations of international law committed by Russia and its allies, including North Korea." Furthermore, it emphasized that "the EU and international partners should strengthen efforts to hold all perpetrators accountable." This is the first time the EU has mentioned the legal responsibility of North Korea's troop deployment in an official document.
The resolution strongly condemned North Korea's troop deployment and Russia's test launch of new ballistic missiles, pointing out that "these recent escalations represent a new phase in the Russia-Ukraine war and pose a threat to the security of the entire EU." It also urged EU member states to strengthen sanctions against Iran, Belarus, and North Korea, which have provided military support to Russia.
Regarding China, the resolution demanded that it "cease all military and dual-use support to Russia," warning that "failure to change course risks serious impacts on EU-China bilateral relations." It added that "China could use its significant influence over North Korea and Russia to help ease tensions." The resolution was adopted with 390 votes in favor, 135 against, and 52 abstentions.
On the same day, Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU's First Vice-President, also announced the signing of an EU-Ukraine Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Accordingly, the EU will provide Ukraine with 18.1 billion euros (approximately 27 trillion won) using revenues generated from frozen Russian assets due to sanctions. This is expected to secure reserve funds for Ukraine in preparation for the potential suspension of U.S. support following the inauguration of the Donald Trump administration in January next year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky approved a government plan on the same day to allocate 60% of next year's budget to defense and security sectors. According to AFP, out of the general budget of 87 billion dollars (approximately 121.5 trillion won), about 54 billion dollars (around 75.41 trillion won) is allocated to defense and security.
This is a slight increase compared to this year but is less than half when compared to Russia's defense and security budget for next year. Russia's budget allocation for defense next year is 125 billion dollars (174.5 trillion won). Separately, 32 billion dollars (approximately 44.6 trillion won) is allocated to domestic security expenditures.
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