Council of the
European Union
PRESS
EN
COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS
Brussels, 22 July 2014
Council conclusions on Ukraine
Foreign Affairs Council meeting
The Council adopted the following conclusions:
"1)
The EU and its Member States are shocked and deeply saddened by the downing of the
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in Donetsk, Ukraine and the tragic loss of so many innocent lives.
Citizens from many nationalities including many from the European Union have been killed. We
wish to convey our deepest condolences to the people and governments of all the affected nations
and in particular to the families of the victims. The EU welcomes unanimous adoption of the UNSC
Resolution of 21 July 2014 and looks forward to its full implementation.
2)
The EU calls on the separatist groups in the area to ensure full, immediate, safe and secure
access to the site and surrounding area, including a viable security corridor, in order to proceed
with victim identification as well as to recover remains and possessions of those deceased in the
downing and provide for swift, professional and dignified repatriation of the victims. The EU
expects all those in the area to preserve the crash site intact, including by refraining from
destroying, moving, or disturbing remains, wreckage, equipment, debris or personal belongings.
3)
The EU supports the call of the UNSC and OSCE Permanent Council for a full, transparent
and independent international investigation in accordance with the international civil aviation
guidelines, in co-ordination with the ICAO, including with participation of technical and forensic
experts from the Ukrainian, Malaysian, and Dutch governments as well as other technical and
forensic experts. All relevant materials recovered from the site should be made available to the
international investigation immediately and without interference.
4)
The EU emphasises that those directly and indirectly responsible for the downing must be
held accountable and brought to justice and calls on all states and parties to fully cooperate to this
end.
5)
The Council urges the Russian Federation to actively use its influence over the illegally
armed groups in order to achieve full, immediate, safe and secure access to the site, full
cooperation with the work on recovering remains and possessions and full cooperation with the
independent investigation, including unhindered access to the site of the downing for as long as
needed for the investigation and possible follow up investigations. The OSCE Special Monitoring
Mission, already present in Eastern Ukraine, must be allowed to play its full role in facilitating and
safe-guarding the access.
The Council urges Russia to stop the increasing flow of weapons, equipment and militants across
the border in order to achieve rapid and tangible results in de-escalation. The Council further urges
Russia to withdraw its additional troops from the border area.
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