The address of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk to the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia

 Dear Mr. Speaker, dear Mr. Edwards!

Dear Mr. President!

Dear Mr. Prime Minister!

Dear Members of the Parliament, Members of the Government!

Dear citizens of Latvia!

Thank you for the opportunity to address you on this special day.

Exactly one year ago at dawn, peaceful Ukraine was awakened by the explosions of russian missiles, the roar of moscow tanks and the sound of enemy airplanes and helicopters.

On that terrible February morning, a bloody war came to our home, the harbinger of which eight years earlier was the insidious seizure of Crimea and Donbas.

The full-scale invasion has been going on for 365 days, continuing to bring death and destruction, taking the lives and health of adults and children, our heroic soldiers and defenders, forcing Ukrainians to suffer from shelling, lack of light, water and heat, and to seek refuge outside their homeland.

We are holding on, we will not give up, we will definitely win!

Because the truth is behind us.

Because we defend what is ours and do not want anyone else’s.

Because along with the trouble, we have received support from true friends, among whom I want to mention the great Latvian people and thank you all once again.

We appreciate your support immensely and remember everything!

We remember how the 13th Saeima strongly condemned the aggression on February 24.

How it suspended the activities of friendship groups with the parliaments of russia and belarus.

How it appealed to the international community to establish a no-fly zone over the territory of Ukraine.

How Latvia banned shameful symbols of the russian war in Ukraine.

How it recognized russian crimes in Ukraine as genocide.

How it adopted legislative changes necessary to stop gas imports, how it declared russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

And, of course, we will never forget the visit of support and solidarity that the then Speaker of the Saeima, and today’s Minister of Defense of Latvia, honorable Inara Murniece, paid to Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion, together with her colleagues from Lithuania and Estonia.

I am extremely pleased that the baton of the 13th Saeima was picked up by the 14th Saeima, which last December adopted a statement in support of the investigation of war crimes committed by russia, the establishment of a specialized international tribunal and the restriction of russian law in international organizations, including the UN Security Council.

Latvia’s strong political support is backed by equally strong military support!

We are sincerely grateful that Latvia has already provided Ukraine with weapons, ammunition and military goods worth over 314 million euros, making it the 2nd among our partners in terms of the percentage of national GDP expenditures and the 19th in terms of the absolute amount spent.

Bravo, Latvia!

It is telling that the first batch of Stinger MANPADS from Latvia arrived in Kyiv at 18.00 on February 23, the day before the full-scale russian invasion.

And it was these Latvian Stingers that prevented the russian landing in Kyiv!

We also highly appreciate the training of our military, as well as the plans to significantly expand the relevant programs this year.

I would like to emphasize the importance of medical rehabilitation of Ukrainian servicemen in Latvia.

91 of our seriously wounded soldiers have already completed their treatment, and 13 are still under the care of Latvian doctors.

I know this invaluable assistance will continue.

We are grateful to you for each and every one of our citizens whom you have provided shelter and protection from the war.

Here I would like to mention the adoption by the 13th Saeima of the Law on Support of Ukrainian Citizens, which has already enabled more than 42 and a half thousand citizens of our country to find refuge in hospitable Latvia. It is also noteworthy that one of the first decisions of the 14th Saeima was to extend the validity of this Law.

Ukraine is extremely grateful for the humanitarian aid provided by Latvia.

If I started to list this assistance and the areas in which it is provided, it would take the entire time of the solemn meeting.

I will mention only one episode.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that the initiative launched by the Mayor of Riga, Martins Stakis, and you in your previous position as Vice Mayor of Riga back in April 2022 is still in place.

During your visit, 10 more city buses donated by the Riga City Council arrived in Kyiv. This is a valuable expansion of the capacity of Kyiv’s public transportation system, especially given the difficult situation with electric public transportation due to the criminal attacks of russian missiles and drones on our power grid.

We are grateful for Latvia’s decision to participate in projects to restore the infrastructure of Chernihiv region, which suffered from criminal russian actions.

We believe that the full-scale implementation of these projects will start as soon as possible.

We highly appreciate Latvia’s unconditional support for Ukraine’s membership in the European Union, and the great work you are doing to convince all European partners of the importance of Ukraine’s rapid and full accession to the EU.

The granting of EU candidate status to Ukraine was our common victory on the path to the realization of the Ukrainian people's aspiration to return to their true European roots and European family.

As with EU integration, we look forward to Latvia’s continued support for Ukraine’s early membership in NATO.

I would like to emphasize once again that Ukraine cannot remain outside the Euro-Atlantic context any longer, as this threatens its very existence and Europe with war.

Dear Latvian friends,

I know that the meeting in which I am honored to participate is the culmination of the Days of Support for Ukraine held in our brotherly Latvia.

We are sincerely grateful for this initiative.

But this support cannot be measured in days, years or centuries.

It has no boundaries.

It is reciprocal.

It is in the hearts of our fraternal peoples.

In conclusion, on behalf of the Verkhovna Rada, I would like to congratulate you all on the successful parliamentary elections.

We highly appreciate the level of cooperation we had with the 13th Saeima and are sincerely committed to its further development with the 14th Saeima.

I am also very pleased that we meet with our Latvian friends at various venues. I fondly recall my recent meeting in Munich with the esteemed Mr. President Egils Levits, and our Vice Speaker Olena Kondratiuk is a frequent visitor to Riga.

In conclusion, I would like to express my admiration and gratitude to you, Mr. Speaker, for your informative speech in the Verkhovna Rada, which you delivered entirely in Ukrainian and which lasted 17 minutes.

I have counted.

Both in our Parliament and in Ukrainian society, it was perceived as a sign of respect for the heroic struggle of our people against the russian aggressor.

For now, I will say only one phrase in Latvian, but it is dear to my heart:

Kopa mes uzvaresim!

Glory to Latvia!

Glory to Ukraine!