Ruslan Stefanchuk: Ukraine proves to the world that it wants and will live by civilized and democratic principles in the EU

Informatiion Department
Published on 02 June 2022, at 17:59

The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, began his working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany with a meeting with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, Tobias Lindner, Member of the Bundestag.

"The main purpose of my visit is precisely the issues related to Ukraine's membership in the EU. And I would like to enlist the support of Berlin," said the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament and recalled the encouraging figures for Germany's support for Ukraine's EU membership – almost two-thirds of Germans support this idea.

"We clearly understand that candidate status is not yet membership. But this is a very necessary stage that will show the world that Ukraine is on the rails of European integration. Europe together with Ukraine. And this is a very important message from Putin that Ukraine is expected in a united Europe," Ruslan Stefanchuk stressed.

He noted that the partnership between the EU and Ukraine is mutually beneficial, as Ukraine has something to offer the EU: strong support in terms of food and environmental security; issues of digitalization of the country and defense, because Ukraine now has one of the most powerful armies in Europe, which is ready to defend and is already defending the EU.

Ruslan Stefanchuk stressed that Berlin's position on Ukraine's European integration intentions is clear and understandable, and therefore can be a strong signal for countries that are still hesitant in this decision.

In addition, the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament thanked Germany for important decisions on the provision of weapons and stressed that Ukraine expects their implementation as soon as possible.

We are very much looking forward to the realization of the promises made to Ukraine to provide self-propelled artillery "Cheetah", systems such as "Marder" and "Leopard", ammunition for them.
We would also like to understand the deadlines, because every day for Ukraine, according to President Zelenskyy, there are about a hundred killed and 500 wounded Ukrainian soldiers who are defending Ukraine and the whole civilized world,” Ruslan Stefanchuk stressed.

The Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament also thanked the German deputies for their position on the sanctions pressure on russia.

"I ask you to continue to squeeze the economic backbone of the russian military machine together. We hope that Germany will use all its strong potential and reputation within the EU to impose even stronger sanctions against the aggressor, with a full embargo on oil and gas, disconnection of russian and belarusian banks from SWIFT, termination of trade relations with russia. This is an important step for them to finally think that war is expensive and painful," Ruslan Stefanchuk said.

According to him, Ukraine will definitely win, the issue of rebuilding Ukraine will arise and Germany’s participation in it is also decisive.

"It is fair that reconstruction should take place at the expense of the country that destroyed everything possible in Ukraine. That is why Ukraine has already passed the relevant legislative acts on the confiscation of the property of the aggressor country," Ruslan Stefanchuk said.

The Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine asked his German colleagues to consider the adoption of similar laws in the Bundestag and support them in the German Government so that Ukraine's economy can be restored not only at the expense of taxpayers and EU countries, but primarily at the expense of confiscated.

For his part, German Foreign Minister Tobias Lindner expressed confidence in Ukraine's victory and assured that Germany would continue to support Ukraine, including in humanitarian issues, arms supplies and strengthening sanctions.

"Our doors are always open for Ukraine… We understand that the citizens of Ukraine should not be disappointed, they should be given hope and show that Ukraine belongs to the European community. That is why your visit is on time, because it is extremely important that parliamentarians meet with parliamentarians. They can put pressure and support. This is the basis of democracy,” said the German Foreign Minister.