Russian President Vladimir Putin will have to answer for his conduct before a war crimes tribunal just like Slobodan Milosevic, Croatian MEP Tonino Picula said on Tuesday during a debate in the European Parliament (EP) on a resolution regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

“This war arouses memories of the war aggression on my country, Croatia, thirty years ago. Attacks on children’s hospitals, civilian buildings, destroyed towns and refugees. Putin, just like Milosevic, will have to answer for his conduct before the war crimes tribunal,” Picula said during an extraordinary sitting of the European Parliament which was earlier addressed via video link by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“It will be very difficult for Putin to exit this war. The Kremlin could experience a Russian version of Maidan. History has shown that dictators can be defeated but it is equally important to remove the circumstances that led to a dictator’s emergence. Ukraine is bleeding but Putin’s regime will be bled out. Long live a European Ukraine, Glory to Ukraine,” said Picula who participated in the negotiations by parliamentary groups on the EP’s resolution.

The reason for the war in Ukraine is the “authoritarian nature of the Russian regime under the rule of the Russian president’s absolutism,” said Picula and added we don’t know what is worse, “Putin’s aggression or his narrative to justify the violence.”

Picula thinks that Putin counted on Ukraine’s passiveness and the division in the West however, he overestimated his power and underestimated the strength of Ukraine’s resistance and the ability for the West to unite.”

The EP’s proposed resolution calls on EU institutions to work towards granting EU candidate status to Ukraine.

Harshly condemning the attack on Ukraine, Russia is called to unconditionally withdraw all military and paramilitary forces and military equipment from the entire internationally recognized territory of Ukraine.

The EP among other things calls for sanctions to be introduced against Russia “without any exemptions induced by sectoral or national interests” and to “significantly reduce energy dependence in particular on Russian gas, oil and coal.”

MEPs expressed appreciation and support for the Russian and Belarusian citizens who took to the streets in recent days and condemned the arrest of thousands of peaceful protesters and called for their immediate release.

The resolution adopted by the EP further points at the persistent efforts by the Russian Federation to destabilize Western Balkan countries.

The EU strongly regrets Serbia’s non-alignment with EU sanctions against Russia, which damages its EU accession process, and reiterates its expectation that EU accession candidates align not only with the EU acquis but also with the EU’s common foreign and security policy, the Resolution notes.