Top news - russia's aggression should encourage united Europe to draw serious conclusions about its own future, – Deputy Chairwoman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk

russia's aggression should encourage united Europe to draw serious conclusions about its own future, – Deputy Chairwoman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk

Informatiion Department
Published on 21 June 2022, at 19:35

Today in Ukraine, russia is fighting against European values, which means that any European country that shares the same principles can be the next target for aggression.

Olena Kondratiuk emphasized this during her speech on the second day of the Three Seas Initiative summit:

«This war directly threatens global and European food and energy security. Rising prices, slowing European economies, inflation, social tensions, and rising poverty. All this is already affecting and will affect the political stability of each EU country.

This war divided the lives of Europe into before and after. Today, every European country is faced with a choice. Either you are with Ukraine and are fighting for the good. Or you hesitate and then become an accomplice of evil.

Europe needs to change in response to unprecedented challenges, including russia's energy dependence and blackmail, security threats, including the threat of a nuclear attack, russian disinformation, and cybercrime. The time has come for truly fundamental change and decisive action.

Courtesies with russia, and billions of euros, paid to russia for oil, gas, and coal resulted in the militarization of russia, and aggressive war. This must end.

All this speaks of the need for large-scale changes and the construction of a new global and European security and cooperation architecture.

We hope that in the coming days, the Council of the European Union will consider the recommendations of the European Parliament and the European Commission. We await the historic decision to grant Ukraine the status of a candidate country for accession to the European Union. We understand that this is only the first step on the difficult path of reforms towards full membership.

Why candidate status is vital for Ukraine right now:

This is a real opportunity to break the chain of war with russia and bring Ukraine closer to its strategic goal of being a member of the EU and NATO. Not only that – to snatch Ukraine from the gray zone influence of the russian federation.
Demonstrate real cohesion of EU countries in support of Ukraine.
Not give putin any chance to win, showing that there is unity in the EU.
66% of Europeans support Ukraine's membership in the EU, and 71% believe that Ukraine is part of the European family.

At the same time, 91% of Ukrainian citizens favor joining the EU, which is the highest figure in history. Ukraine has earned membership in the EU because the Armed Forces protect not only our independence and freedom but all EU countries.

We are ready to do all the tremendous further homework to achieve high European standards to become a full member of the EU in the future.

That is why I appealed to the participants of the Parliamentary Forum of the Three Seas to support granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union! »