Is Wagner a terrorist group? The National Assembly considered that it was. MEPs unanimously voted on Tuesday in favour of a text calling for the inclusion of the Russian paramilitary group on the European Union's list of terrorist organisations. As a reminder, members of the Wagner militia set up in 2014 are accused of abuses in Ukraine and Africa.
The motion for a resolution tabled by Renaissance MP Benjamin Haddad, without binding value, targeted in particular the "numerous abuses against the civilian population" in Ukraine, committed by this group of mercenaries, some of whom could be qualified as "war crimes".
"A signal of denunciation from Wagner"
The text, debated Tuesday afternoon, was co-signed by deputies of the different groups of the majority, but also by elected representatives from the ranks of socialists, ecologists and LR, presage of a favorable vote in the hemicycle.
"It's about sending a political, symbolic message, a signal of denunciation of Wagner and his activities – which deliberately target civilians for political gain – as terrorism," Haddad said.
Read alsoBenjamin Haddad: "It is necessary to strengthen the means of fight against the Wagner group"
The text quotes the German intelligence services, according to which Wagner "took part in the summary executions, mutilations and acts of torture committed against civilians in the Ukrainian locality of Bucha". In addition to Ukraine, the resolution also notes abuses in Syria and several African countries such as Mali and the Central African Republic.
In mid-March, the Lithuanian Parliament already adopted a resolution stating that "Wagner is a terrorist organisation", drawing thanks from Kiev. For its part, the EU added Wagner to its list of individuals and entities sanctioned for "active participation in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine."
An "anti-Russian zeal", according to Moscow
At the end of March, French MPs showed their support for Ukraine by adopting a resolution recognizing as genocide the Holodomor, the famine caused in the early 1930s in Ukraine by the Soviet authorities.
Volodymyr Zelensky had thanked them for this gesture which responded to a strong expectation of Kiev about the painful memory of this deadly famine, revived by the Russian invasion of the country. Russia, for its part, responded by castigating an "anti-Russian zeal" of the French National Assembly.
Another resolution on the conflict in Ukraine could soon be discussed in the meeting. Led by Renaissance MP Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade, it aims to denounce the deportations of Ukrainian children by Russia, in a "deliberate strategy of destruction of Ukrainian national identity and society".