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By Katherine Fung
Senior Writer
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Following an emotional address from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor to accept the country's application to join the European Union as the Russian invasion of Ukraine intensifies.
However, while 637 members voted "yes" to granting Ukraine status as an EU member on Tuesday, there were 13 members of parliament who voted against supporting Ukraine and 26 who abstained their vote.
The list of votes against the application included both far-right and far-left populists, with three votes from those on the right, nine votes from the left and one member who is in favor of minority interests.
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Among the 13 votes were three members from Greece, two each from Germany, Portugal, and Ireland, and one from Italy, Spain, Latvia, and the Netherlands. However, members of parliament are grouped by political affinity and not nationality.
Here is the complete list of the votes against Ukraine's application:
- Marcel de Graaff of the Netherlands (Identity and Democracy Group, right/far-right)
- Francesca Donato of Italy (Independent, right/far-right)
- Ioannis Lagos of Greece (Independent, far-right)
- Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos of Greece (Communist Party of Greece, far-left)
- Kostas Papadakis of Greece (Communist Party of Greece, far-left)
- Clare Daly of Ireland (Independents for change, left/far-left)
- Mick Wallace of Ireland (Independents for change, left/far-left)
- Özlem Demirel of Germany (DIE LINKE., left/far-left)
- Martin Schirdewan of Germany (DIE LINKE., left/far-left)
- Sandra Pereira of Portugal (Partido Comunista Português, left/far-left)
- Pimenta Lopes of Portugal (Partido Comunista Português, left/far-left)
- Urbán Crespo of Spain (ANTICAPITALISTAS, left/far-left)
- Tatjana Ždanoka (Latvijas Krievu savienība, minority interests)
The Tuesday vote came after Zelensky received a long standing ovation from the European Parliament just a day after he officially asked the EU to "urgently admit Ukraine."
"We're fighting just for our land and for our freedom," the Ukrainian president said.
"We are fighting for our freedom, for our rights and for our survival but we are also fighting also to be equal members of Europe," he pleaded. "The European Union is going to be much stronger with us, that's for sure."
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Those who voted against Ukraine's application faced mass criticisms over social media after their decisions.
In a joint statement following the vote, Daly and Wallace—who are both from Ireland— said that while they condemned Russia's attack, "There is no military solution. No to Russia's war in Ukraine; no to military escalation on the European continent."
There were also 26 members of Parliament who abstained their vote, those included:
- Emmanouil Fragkos of Greece (Elliniki Lusi-Greek Solution, right/far-right)
- Gerolf Annemans of Belgium (Vlaams Belang, right/far-right)
- Filip De Man of Belgium (Vlaams Belang, right/far-right)
- Tom Vandendriessche of Belgium (Vlaams Belan, right/far-right)
- Roman Haider of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, right/far-right)
- Georg Mayer of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, right/far-right)
- Harald Vilimsky of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, right/far-right)
- Maxette Pirbakas of France (Rassemblement national, far-right)
- Thierry Mariani of France (Rassemblement national, right/far-right)
- Nicolas Bay of France (Reconquête!, far-right)
- Gilbert Collard of France (Reconquête!, far-right)
- Jérôme Rivière of France (Reconquête!, far-right)
- Milan Uhrík of Slovakia (Hnutie Republika, far-right)
- Athanasios Konstantinou of Greece (Independent, far-right)
- Martin Buschmann of Germany (Independent, left/far-left)
- Martin Sonneborn of Germany (Die PARTEI. left)
- Helmut Scholz of Germany (DIE LINKE.,left/far-left)
- Martina Michels of Germany (DIE LINKE., left/far-left)
- Cornelia Ernst of Germany (DIE LINKE., left/far-left)
- Pernando Barrena Arza of Spain (EH BILDU, left/far-left)
- Manu Pineda of Spain (Izquierda Unida, left/far-left)
- Sira Rego of Spain (Izquierda Unida, left/far-left)
- Malin Björk of Sweden (Vänsterpartiet, left/far-left)
- Marc Botenga of Belgium (Parti du Travail de Belgique, left/far-left)
- Giorgos Georgiou of Cyprus (Progressive Party of Working People - Left - New Forces, left/far-left)
- Kateřina Konečná of Czechia (Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy, left/far-left)
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