Ladies and gentlemen, Presidents of the European Parliaments!
Dear Madam President of the European Parliament!
Dear friends!
First of all, I would like to thank my dear Czech colleagues, the President of the Senate, Milos Vystrcil, and the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Marketa Pekarova Adamova, for inviting me to come to Prague.
Let me also express my deep and sincere gratitude to the Czech people and their democratic institutions, which have supported Ukraine in the fight against russian aggression from the very beginning and continue to do so.
In fact, I would like to take this opportunity to convey the gratitude of the courageous and unbreakable Ukrainian people to all the heads of parliamentary delegations present in this hall for the enormous assistance that your people, the parliaments you lead, and the heads of your states as well as governments provide to Ukraine, which is fighting for its right to be free, democratic, and European.
Today, I have the high honour of representing the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine at the Conference of Speakers of the Parliaments of the European Union.
This is a largely historic event, as it is the first time that the Ukrainian Parliament is taking part in a traditional EU parliamentary summit.
For me, it is deeply symbolic that today’s Conference is taking place in Prague, the capital of a dignified and free nation that has gone through difficult stages of struggle for its democratic choice.
A nation that survived military occupation, the Red Terror and persecution, but survived and won, becoming an integral part of the democratic world, gaining membership in the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union.
I am glad to be with you to celebrate spring in Prague, or the Prague Spring, which could not be conquered by the occupation of Czechoslovakia, which came to your lands on the bloody bayonets of moscow 55 years ago.
It is exciting for me to be in the city where the great Vaclav Havel was born, worked and found his eternal rest.
In 1978, describing the regime of the time, he wrote: “The government is in the grip of its own lies, so it resorts to falsity. It falsifies the past. It falsifies the present and falsifies the future.”
Yes, lies have always been the basis of communist regimes in the 20th century. Now, it is the basis of the terrorist and totalitarian regime of today’s russia, which has inherited and improved upon the world’s most horrific punitive traditions and practices.
As then, so now, the kremlin is ready to do anything to maintain its power and monopoly on lies.
Ukraine, on the other hand, has chosen the path to truth and freedom, democracy and dignity. It has chosen the path to European values, to the European community. And it is paying the highest price for this.
In response, russia has unleashed a brutal war against us, and the entire arsenal of threats and blackmail against you.
Today is the 425th day of Ukraine’s resistance to russia’s large-scale invasion. The peculiarity of this war is the aggressor’s desire to cause as much human suffering as possible. To suppress the will of people to resist. To intimidate and surrender to the mercy of the enemy.
How else can we explain the deliberate and targeted shelling and bombing of residential areas, hospitals, schools, churches, humanitarian corridors, and critical infrastructure? How can we explain the direct and unambiguous orders to kill women and children, and the atrocities in the occupied territories? How, after all, can one explain Bucha, Izium, and Mariupol?
However, russia has failed to break the spirit of Ukrainians. We have no doubt that only the struggle and our victory will protect us from total genocide, ensuring justice and accountability for all crimes committed. Responsibility for all perpetrators. Responsibility from the soldier to the highest leadership of the aggressor country.
A special international tribunal is what will lay the foundation for bringing russia’s top political and military leadership to justice for starting the war.
I invite those who are still hesitant about the need to make such a decision to come to Ukraine: talk to Ukrainians who have lost their dearest ones, walk through the ruins, visit the graves of our heroes, and see for yourself what the “russian world” is, what brotherhood in russian is.
Because where there was a school, there is now a fire, where there was a hospital, there is a shell crater, where there was a park, there is now a mass grave.
Only the irreversibility of punishment will make it impossible to repeat crimes in the future. History should teach us this.
Unfortunately, the Ukrainian people have experienced many tragedies for which the perpetrators have not been justly punished. But one of them is particularly painful.
As a result of the famine artificially organised by the stalinist regime in 1932-33, Ukraine lost up to 10 million of its sons and daughters. We call this genocidal phenomenon the Holodomor. Its roots should be sought in hatred and intolerance.
I am sincerely grateful to those countries that have already recognised the Holodomor as genocide and urge others to join this ‘circle of historical justice’.
Dear colleagues!
Twelve months ago, Ukrainian defenders liberated the first occupied territories – the north of Ukraine. Since then, almost half of the Ukrainian lands seized by russian troops have been liberated. I assure you that this process will continue until the complete de-occupation of our sovereign territory within internationally recognised borders.
I am glad that the pro-Ukrainian coalition in the world is stronger than ever, but victory requires decisive action. We are preparing to liberate Ukraine and for this we need heavy weapons, ammunition and training for the Ukrainian military.
The issue of providing Ukraine with weapons has undergone a serious evolution, which has been firmly based on your responsible leadership in preserving Ukraine as a state. And we are grateful to you for that.
Along with Javelins and NLAWs, and later air defence systems and tanks, we need modern combat aircraft today. Ukraine is very much looking forward to the decision to provide 4th generation multi-role combat aircraft. But Ukraine is also waiting for strategic political decisions!
On 30 September 2022, I had the honour to sign a joint appeal to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to decide on Ukraine’s membership in NATO together with the President and Prime Minister of Ukraine. Appealing to the Alliance was a logical and deliberate step. We have convincingly demonstrated our readiness to become a NATO member and our commitment to democratic values.
We are only a few months away from the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July, where we would like to see one of the key decisions – an invitation for Ukraine to join the Alliance with a clear algorithm, including a timeframe for accession. At the same time, we are aware that a consensus of all Allies is needed to make a decision on Ukraine. While this is happening, we propose to implement international security guarantees for our country.
That is why I appeal to you, dear colleagues from NATO member states, to use your high authority to ensure that the goals, which I emphasise, are our common ones, not purely Ukrainian. We will be grateful if your parliaments adopt resolutions on the eve of Vilnius that will allow us to make the only right decisions in the Lithuanian capital!
Dear friends!
The war waged by russia is a challenge to the entire civilised world. Opening Ukraine’s path to EU membership is your proper response to the invader.
Following the strategic decision of the European Council, based on the positive recommendations of the European Parliament and the European Commission, we have moved to the stage of fulfilling the membership requirements. Despite the aggression, over the past 425 days we have brought Ukraine much closer to the EU. Amidst the war, a great deal of work has already been done to implement the seven steps set out by the European Commission. You will find brochures with the most up-to-date information on the implementation of these recommendations on your tables among the Conference materials.
Ukraine is planning to achieve maximum results by the time of the interim assessment by the European Commission in the coming months and I believe that this will allow us to start the accession negotiations by the end of this year.
We are grateful to the EU for its assistance in establishing the Office to support the approximation of Ukrainian legislation to the EU acquis. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the European Parliament and President Roberta Metsola for their support and willingness to use the available resources to the fullest to assist the Ukrainian Parliament.
Earlier this month, we held the first joint meeting of the Verkhovna Rada and European Parliament committees and reached an agreement on further structural sectoral cooperation. I invite national parliaments of EU member states to join this dialogue within the framework of existing mechanisms of cooperation. You have invaluable experience in implementing EU law into national legislation, and Ukraine needs this experience.
I would like to make a special appeal to the leaders of the parliaments of countries that, like Ukraine, are candidates for accession to the European Union.
We are not competitors, but like-minded people, because we share a common goal: integration into the European political, economic and humanitarian space. I invite you to cooperate to achieve our common goals!
Dear participants of the conference!
The war unleashed by russia has become a great challenge for us in the energy sector. We have experienced perhaps the most difficult winter in our modern history. Our energy sector became one of the main targets of military aggression. In those terrible and dark days, Ukraine looked like a dark spot from space. However, the light and warmth of the hearts of Ukrainians generated the power of faith and the thirst for victory, preventing us from breaking down.
Ladies and gentlemen!
The war is taking lives of Ukrainians every day, destroying our homes and depriving us of vital infrastructure. The assistance of the European Union and its member states is unprecedented. The financial, logistical and legal decisions that have been made to help Ukraine are, without exaggeration, life-saving. We are grateful and will always remember this.
But, even in times of war, we dream of peace, of returning to a peaceful life and rebuilding Ukraine liberated from the enemy. It is with this goal in mind that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi has proposed a peace formula to the world, which I ask you and the parliaments you lead to support both in general and in its individual segments. Developing the parliamentary dimension of this initiative through joint efforts can significantly shorten the path to ending the war and establishing a just peace.
I would like to emphasise that we do not need anyone else’s, but we will do everything to defend ours!
We intend to continue to actively develop the parliamentary dimension of another initiative of the President of Ukraine, known to you as the Crimean Platform.
I am extremely pleased that after the Republic of Croatia, the Czech Republic will host the Second Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimean Platform this autumn. In the near future, all of you will receive official invitations to this Forum from Marketa and me.
Another common task for us is to rebuild Ukraine. I invite you to join us in this important endeavour. I will say more: Ukraine’s reconstruction should be financed by assets seized from russia, including financial resources that are already or will be frozen.
Our vision is clear: the russian federation must pay for the russian aggression. This is an important element of justice. Most of russia’s assets, which are quite significant, are under the jurisdiction of European countries. That is why we need a real, fast and legal mechanism to direct russian assets to compensate for the damage caused by the russian war.
In November last year, the UN General Assembly voted for a long-awaited resolution on the establishment of a Compensation Mechanism for Damage Caused to Ukraine as a Result of russia’s Armed Aggression. This decision creates a legal basis for the countries in which the seized assets of the russian federation are located, and these countries can now move from discussion to action.
Dear friends!
You are the direct representatives of almost five hundred million citizens of the European Union. Your parliaments represent the diversity of Europe’s political spectrum. You respond to the challenges facing your societies. But the main challenge facing our continent today is russian aggression. Only victory in this war will allow us to realise the project called “United Europe”. The key to victory lies in unity, and I urge you all to preserve it.
You have done a lot for Ukraine. There are no words that can express the boundless gratitude of Ukrainians. I ask you to remain noble ambassadors of justice, reliable and true friends of Ukraine, which will surely win.
At the beginning of my speech, I mentioned the Prague Spring. I sincerely believe that very soon a real European Spring will come to Ukrainians, which we will meet together in Kyiv, the capital of a liberated Ukraine, a full member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance.
Thank you for your attention!
Glory to Ukraine!
