Vox has not voted against a European resolution to aid Ukraine: it is a hoax

@ElentirENG ES 7·18·2024 · 10:28 0

Some complain about misinformation on the internet, but at the same time they contribute to it against their political and/or ideological rivals.

Sanchez remains silent and Vox reiterates its support for Ukraine after Russian attack on children's hospital
Vox criticizes the scarcity of military aid from the government of Pedro Sánchez to Ukraine

A hoax spread by a news fact-checker on social networks

Yesterday, the left-wing journalist Ana Pastor, director of Newtral (one of the entities dedicated to verifying news on social networks) published a message on Twitter stating the following: " Podemos voted today with Alvise, VOX and the rest of “Patriots” in the European Parliament. They have voted against a resolution supporting Ukraine and condemning Orbán for his visit to Putin."

Statements like this have been read on other Twitter accounts in recent hours, but it is especially shocking to see a "verifier" spreading a hoax. And in Ana Pastor's message there is information that is false and that I will verify below using official sources. The resolution approved yesterday can be read here (PDF). The resolution was approved by 495 votes in favor, 137 against and 47 abstentions. The results of the Yesterday's votes in the European Parliament can be consulted here (PDF).

Vox did not vote against that resolution

In the document with the results, the final vote approving that resolution appears last. As you can see, the names of the Vox MEPs do not appear among the votes against, so what Ana Pastor claims is not true. It should be noted that the names of the Vox MEPs They do not appear in the section of votes in favor or in the abstentions, from which it follows that they did not participate in that vote. In the section of votes against yes, there are Alvise Pérez Fernández (in the section of MEPs not attached to any group) and the Podemos MEPs Irene Montero and Isa Serra (in the far-left group The Left).

Two months ago Vox supported sending more military aid to Ukraine

In case anyone has doubts about Vox's position in relation to that issue, it is worth remembering that on May 28, Vox supported more military aid for Ukraine in Congress, a position that had the votes against Sumar, ERC and Bildu, partners of Pedro Sánchez and, in the specific case of Sumar, one of the parties that is part of the coalition government with the PSOE. Once again, it became clear that Sánchez governs with the support of Putin's puppets in Spain, but many media outlets systematically ignore that reality.

Vox points out the reason why it did not participate in yesterday's vote

Regarding the resolution approved yesterday by the European Parliament, Vox Europa announced this Wednesday at 3:08 p.m. (hours before Ana Pastor published her message) the reasons why she did not participate in that vote, in a video in which Jorge Buxadé indicated that, pointing out that the resolution "does not is about Ukraine", but "is a trap resolution to condemn Orbán". Indeed, the resolution dedicates a longer paragraph to condemning the Hungarian prime minister than to reaffirming its support for Ukraine. , as anyone can see by reading the text. In fact, the approved resolution condemns Orbán two paragraphs before condemning the Russian attack on the Okhmatdyt children's hospital, which demonstrates a curious order of priorities.

In that message, Buxadé added: "We have defended from the first moment, and we will do so, the Ukrainian nation, just as we defend the right to defend itself, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Israel in the face of fundamentalist attacks, just as we defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain in Ceuta, Melilla or the Canary Islands."

Deputies from Patriots for Europe presented an alternative text condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine

It should also be noted that this Tuesday three MEPs from the Patriots for Europe group, to which Vox belongs (Kinga Gál, from the Hungarian Fidesz party; Sebastiaan Stöteler, from the Dutch Freedom Party; and Anders Vistisen, of the Danish People's Party) presented an alternative resolution proposal, the first preliminary consideration of which says this:

"Whereas two years have passed since Russia launched an unprovoked, unjustified and illegal military attack against Ukraine, with far-reaching consequences not only for Ukraine but also for the European Union itself."

Furthermore, the first point of the alternative resolution states the following:

"Condemns Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine, and, in this context, denounces, in the strongest possible terms, the recent brutal attack on the children’s ward of Ohmatdyt hospital in Kyiv and expresses its solidarity with the victims; expresses its sincerest condolences to the families of all the victims of the unrelenting conflict, particularly innocent civilians."

Far far from the pro-Russian positions, this alternative text also states the following:

"Reaffirms its position regarding the continued support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, and regarding the commitment to support Ukraine in various ways, while respecting the individual security interests of the Member States."

In my opinion, this alternative text is wrong in stating that "there is no military solution to the conflict and that peace is the only viable and sustainable solution", but it certainly does not seem to me that anyone that condemns the Russian invasion and supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine deserves to be described as "pro-Russian". I can say little about the result of this alternative resolution, since it does not appear as voted on in the document of yesterday's votes.

A PSOE MEP voted against the resolution approved yesterday

Finally, we must remember that European parliamentary groups do not always vote as a bloc. In fact, it is very common to find opposite positions within members of the same group. In yesterday's vote, for example, four members of the European Socialists group voted against, among them the Spanish Rosa María Serrano Sierra, from the PSOE. I have not seen Ana Pastor writing any comments about it.

---

Photo: European Parliament.