The European Federalist Party sends its condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims of the crash of the 777 Malaysia Airlines plane travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and calls for the establishment of a day of mourning to commemorate the victims (171 out of 298 were EU citizens).

The pain of their losses is born by the families of those men and women; and we too share that pain. “We thought it to be impossible, but it is not: today, in Europe, people can still die due to acts of war” argued Pietro De Matteis, co-president of the European Federalist Party. We call for all Europeans, anywhere in the continent, to use their pain to stand up and demand peace and justice for all Europeans, anywhere in the continent: and in Ukraine as well.

“We consider that the first priority shall be to clarify the circumstances of the accident through an independent enquiry and ensure that those who committed this act are held accountable. This is crucial in order to prevent any side from using this event to justify a further escalation of the conflict”​argued the co-President.

“This event should also sound as a “wake-up call” for the EU, which has been unable to find a solution to this conflict which is at our doorstep. Since November 2013, when the Ukrainian crisis started, most EU governments chose not to be involved. Since March 2014, with the annexation of Crimea, most EU Governments chose not to have a high-profile and keep the crisis at a “virtual” level. We are now seeing that even a “virtual” crisis can produce very real casualties. The EU cannot be considered as safe until the wider European region is in peace. The death of so many Europeans who were travelling on yesterday’s flight should push us to act” the co-President added.

The position of the European Federalist Party is echoed by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who argued that “Europeans have to be the ones to take the lead on this [as] It was a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur over European territory. There should be outrage in European capitals.” Indeed, the European Federalist Party demands the EU to take the lead in the efforts to set up the independent enquiry and take action against the responsible of this tragedy as soon as they are known.
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CONTACTS: The contact person for this press release is Marirosaria Marziali: mariarosaria.marziali@gmail.com (mobile: +32484077897). The co-president of the European Federalist Party Pietro De Matteis can be contacted by writing to: pietro.dematteis@federalistparty.eu .

WHO WE ARE: The European Federalist Party (EFP) is the pan-European party for a more democratic, united and solidary Europe. Founded in 2011, the EFP has sections in 16 countries and took part in the 2014 European Elections in 6 countries. The EFP was instrumental in the introduction of several key reforms in the EU including the European Citizens’ Initiative and the EU roaming regulation. More information is available on our website www.federalistparty.eu and on Facebook: www.fb.com/EuropeanFederalistParty .

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