Recent weeks have not been encouraging for frequent air travellers. Malaysia, Taiwan and Algeria suffered tragic losses in recent days. But MH 17 has certainly been the focal point. The civilian flight that was blown out of the sky over eastern Ukraine has sparked international outrage – and justifiably so.

The state of affairs that have led to this clumsy tragedy is clearly Russia’s doing. There has been a great deal of propaganda-style misinformation originating from Russia following the incident. And I will not derail my train of thought by delving into the specifics of what allegedly directly caused the explosion. The chaos in Ukraine has been fomented by Russia from beginning to end.

Apparently displeased at the prospect of Ukraine developing closer ties with the west, Moscow must have exerted every possible influence on Ukraine, primarily through its puppet leader, to reject an association agreement with the EU that had been in the pipeline for years. The resulting riots and numerous deaths caused by the excessive use of force are well known. The people of Ukraine displayed the most admirable courage in their plight to sever Moscow’s toxic hold on the country.

Many laid down their lives to support their cause. They succeeded in ousting Yanukovych, but what ensued was unimaginable even to Putin’s most vociferous critics. The annexation of Crimea and the events that followed have been the most disruptive to the international for some decades and reminiscent of Saddam Hussein’s annexation of Kuwait. Back then the international community intervened through US-led military action to oust the Iraqis.

It is certainly true that, ages ago, Crimea formed part of Russia but there are few places in Europe that have not formed part of somewhere else at some point in time. Putin annexed Crimea and proceeded to further destabilizing the country by instigating rebellion in areas populated by ethnic Russians, providing training and supplying heavy weaponry. These facts are quite well established and not credibly disputed.

How then should the international community and particularly the EU react to these developments? It is clear that while verbal condemnation of Moscow’s actions has been considerable, many member states weighing their options, and perhaps prioritizing their economic interests, have fallen short of backing sanctions that would really hurt Russia. In fact, the sanctions that have been approved involve targeting individuals with visa bans and asset freezes. But Russia’s vulnerability is her economy that is on the brink of recession. If we want to be credible we need to go after specific sectors of the Russian economy.

Such measures would be appropriate considering the seriousness of the events over the last weeks. But targeted economic sanctions would not only be detrimental to Russia. The EU’s economy is also fragile with certain member states being justifiably concerned that such sanctions could slow down or perhaps reverse their recovery.

One needs to understand that it is perfectly correct for heads of government to weigh these considerations. Not doing so would be irresponsible in the extreme. But what must also be understood is that this transcends economic forecasts – this is now about the kind of world we want to live in. Further sanctions against Russia are a bitter pill to swallow in the short term, but the long term implications to the international order are dire should we not react appropriately now.

Russia can avoid all this. By heeding to the relentless and ever stronger calls from the international community to quell tensions in Ukraine, to retract their support for the separatists and to respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

The EPP has supported the Ukrainian people in their plight for real democracy ever since the commencement of the internal turmoil that led to the ousting of Yanukovych and will continue to do so. Most recently it has requested that the border between Russia and Ukraine be closed – it is a source of much of the ongoing chaos and the most likely origin of the heavy weapons that brought down MH17.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this senseless tragedy.