CHAPTER 4 APPEAL TO THE EU PARLIAMENT

Transcript of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech to the European Parliament, March 1, 2022.

This morning was a very tragic one for us. Two cruise missiles hit Kharkiv, the city, which is located to the borders of the Russian federation.

There were always many Russians there and they were always friend, there were warm relations there. More than 20 universities are there. It’s the city that has the largest number of universities in our country.

The youth is bright, smart there. The people who gathered there all the time and was gathering there all the time for celebrating all celebrations in the largest square in our country — the Freedom Square. This is the largest square in Europe and that’s true.

This is called the Freedom Square. Can you imagine, this morning, two cruise missiles hit this Freedom Square. Dozens killed. This is the price of freedom.

We’re fighting just for our land and for our freedom.

Despite the fact that all the cities of our country are now blocked nobody is going to enter and intervene with our freedom and believe you me, every square from today, no matter what it’s called, is going to be called Freedom Square, in every city of our country.

Nobody’s going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians.

We want our children to live. It seems to me that this is fair. Yesterday, 16 children died. And again, President Putin will say “this is an operation, and we are beating the military infrastructure.” Where are our children? What military factories do they work at? ON which rockets? Maybe they ride in tanks? You killed 16 children!

We are fighting for our rights — freedom and life — and now we are fighting for survival. And this is our main motivation. But we are also fighting to be equal members of Europe. The EU will be much stronger with us. Without you, Ukraine will be alone.

Do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans, and then life will win over death and light will win over darkness. Glory to Ukraine.

Ruslan Stefanchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. (The following is a transcription of the interpretation of the original speech from Ukrainian into English.)

First of all, I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to address the European Parliament. I would also like to say, look behind me. You see the same shots that the whole world sees today.

Eight years ago, the Ukrainian people categorically said no to Russian aggression, to their attempt to change their eternal path home — to the united European Union and to the very successful process of unification that it has demonstrated over all these years.

Instead, our rights to develop and to be a democratic state that chooses its own path has been completely laid waste by a country that doesn’t respect international law or international principles, that disdains territorial integrity and sovereignty. You see the results of that today very clearly in the number of people killed and wounded.

You are aware that the aggressor carried out a full-scale attack on Kharkiv. Today other cities are under constant attack. I believe that this is a crossroads in the history of Europe. Europe is now fighting against an aggressor, and it is very important how the united European community responds to this challenge of savagery and barbarism.

Dear Members, I know you will be looking at a whole range of serious economic sanctions that you will adopt against the aggressor. I would like you to understand that today Ukraine is defending the border of the civilized world. If, God forbid, Ukraine falls, nobody knows where the Russian aggressor will stop.

When I was in my official suit and we were working in the Verkhovna Rada, we were adopting very important reformist laws, but just today I had to go down to the basement four times, because enemy planes are flying over my one-and-a-half thousand-year-old city, dropping bombs and firing missiles.

Think for a moment about what will happen to Europe if the terrible Russian Empire is restored. Would the European Union be able to protect this space of freedom, which it has created over the last dozens of years? What will happen in Eastern European countries now when Russian tanks approach their borders? To what other regions will the Kremlin look after it has conquered Ukraine?

I would like to call upon you to think strategically, to support the unity of the European Union, to support Ukraine, to make it a strategic partner and — most importantly — to act. Don’t be silent. Gather all your efforts and show that Europe today is more unified than ever before, because the threat today is greater than ever.

The best support for the people of Ukraine in their darkest hours would be the immediate recognition of our membership of the European Union. Membership of the European Union — even before these events that started on 24 February — was supported by the majority of Ukrainians. Our mandate is to have a relationship with you, with the European Union, because the Ukrainian people have made their choice. I am calling upon all the Member States and the leadership of the European Union to support candidate status for Ukraine, which is now supported by the whole of Ukraine.

You know that Volodymyr Zelensky has already signed a letter with our application for membership, pursuant to Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union.

Dear friends, this motion for a resolution of the European Parliament contains a whole range of sanctions that you plan to impose on the aggressor. I would call on you to support them. Let us together refute Winston Churchill’s famous saying that “we live in an era of big events and small people.” I know for sure that Ukraine is a great country of great people, and they have proved this over the past six days.

Let us be worthy of those people who are dying right now for the European Union, for the future of our European home.

Thank you for your attention.

(The House accorded the Speaker a standing ovation.)

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission.

Madam President of the European Parliament, Mr President of the Council, High Representative, Mr President of the Ukraine, dear Volodymyr, Mr Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, my honorable Members, war has returned to Europe. Almost 30 years after the Balkan Wars, and over half a century after Soviet troops marched into Prague and Budapest, civil defense sirens again went off in the heart of a European capital. Thousands of people fleeing from bombs camped in underground stations — holding hands, crying silently, trying to cheer each other up. Cars lined up towards Ukrainian Western borders, and when many of them ran out of fuel, people picked up their children and their backpacks and marched for tens of kilometers towards our Union. They sought refuge inside our borders, because their country was not safe any longer. Because inside Ukraine, a gruesome death count has begun. Men, women, children are dying, once again, because a foreign leader, President Putin, decided that their country, Ukraine, has no right to exist. And we will never, ever let that happen and never, ever accept that.

(Applause)

Honorable Members, this is a moment of truth for Europe. Let me quote the editorial of one Ukrainian newspaper, the Kyiv Independent, published just hours before the invasion began: “This is not just about Ukraine. It is a clash of two worlds, two polar sets of values.” They are so right. This is a clash between the rule of law and the rule of the gun; between democracies and autocracies; between a rules — based order and a world of naked aggression. How we respond today to what Russia is doing will determine the future of the international system. The destiny of Ukraine is at stake, but our own fate also lies in the balance.

Today, a Union of almost half a billion people has mobilized for Ukraine. The people of Europe are demonstrating in front of Russian embassies all across our Union. Many of them have opened their homes to Ukrainians — fleeing from Putin’s bombs. And let me thank especially Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary for welcoming these women, men and children. Europe will be there for them, not only in the first days, but also in the weeks and months to come. That must be our promise all together.

(Applause)

This is why we are proposing to activate the temporary protection mechanism to provide them with a secure status and access to schools, medical care and work. They deserve it. We need to do that now. And we know this is only the beginning. More Ukrainians will need our protection and solidarity. We are and we will be there for them.

Our Union is showing a unity of purpose that makes me proud. At the speed of light, the European Union has adopted three waves of heavy sanctions against Russia’s financial system, its high — tech industries and its corrupt elite. This is the largest sanctions package in our Union’s history. We do not take these measures lightly, but we feel we had to act. These sanctions will take a heavy toll on the Russian economy and on the Kremlin. We are disconnecting key Russian banks from the SWIFT network. We also banned the transactions of Russia’s central bank, the single most important financial institution in Russia, and this paralyses billions in foreign reserves, turning off the tap on Russia’s and Putin’s war. We have to end this financing of his war.

(Applause)

Second, we target important sectors of the Russian economy. We are making it impossible for Russia to upgrade its oil refineries; to repair and modernize its air fleet; and to access many important technologies it needs to build a prosperous future.

Thirdly, in another unprecedented step, we are suspending the licenses of the Kremlin’s propaganda machine. The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, and all of their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war and to divide our Union. These are unprecedented actions by the European Union and our partners in response to an unprecedented aggression by Russia.

Each one of these steps has been closely coordinated with our partners and allies, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Norway, but also, for example, Japan, South Korea and Australia. All of these days you see that more than 30 countries — representing well over half of the world’s economy — have also announced sanctions and export controls on Russia. If Putin was seeking to divide the European Union, to weaken NATO, and to break the international community, he has achieved exactly the opposite. We are more united than ever and we will stand up in this war, that is clear that we will overcome and we will prevail. We are united and we stay united.

(Applause)

Honorable Members, I am well aware that these sanctions will come at a cost for our economy too. I know this, and I want to speak honestly to the people of Europe. We have endured two years of pandemic. And we all wished that we could focus on our economic and social recovery. But I believe the people of Europe understand very well that we must stand up against this cruel aggression. Yes, protecting our liberty comes at a price. But this is a defining moment. And this is the cost we are willing to pay, because freedom is priceless, honorable Members. This is our principle: freedom is priceless.

Our investments today will make us more independent tomorrow. I am thinking first and foremost about our energy security. We simply cannot rely so much on a supplier that explicitly threatens us. This is why we reached out to other global suppliers. And they responded. Norway is stepping up. In January, we had a record supply of LNG gas. We are building new LNG terminals and working on interconnectors. But in the long run, it is our switch to renewables and hydrogen that will make us truly independent. We have to accelerate the green transition. Because every kilowatt-hour of electricity Europe generates from solar, wind, hydropower or biomass reduces our dependency on Russian gas and other energy sources. This is a strategic investment. And, my honorable Members, this is a strategic investment because on top, less dependency on Russian gas and other fossil fuel sources also means less money for the Kremlin’s war chest. This is also a truth.

We are resolute, Europe can rise to the challenge. The same is true on defense. European security and defense has evolved more in the last six days than in the last two decades. Most Member States have promised deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine. Germany announced that it will meet the 2% goal of NATO as soon as possible. And our Union, for the first time ever, is using the European budget to purchase and deliver military equipment to a country that is under attack. EUR 500 million from the European Peace Facility, to support Ukraine’s defense. As a first batch, we will now also match this by at least EUR 500 million from the EU budget to deal with the humanitarian consequences of this tragic war, both in the country and for the refugees.

Honorable Members, this is a watershed moment for our Union. We cannot take our security and the protection of people for granted. We have to stand up for it. We have to invest in it. We have to carry our fair share of the responsibility.

This crisis is changing Europe. But Russia has also reached a crossroads. The actions of the Kremlin are severely damaging the long-term interests of Russia and its people. More and more Russians understand this as well. They are marching for peace and freedom. And how does the Kremlin respond to this? By arresting thousands of them. But ultimately, the longing for peace and freedom cannot be silenced. There is another Russia besides Putin’s tanks. And we extend our hand of friendship to this other Russia. Be assured, they have our support.

(Applause)

Honorable Members, in these days, independent Ukraine is facing its darkest hour. At the same time, the Ukrainian people are holding up the torch of freedom for all of us. They are showing immense courage. They are defending their lives. But they are also fighting for universal values and they are willing to die for them. President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people are a true inspiration. And when we last spoke, he told me again about his people’s dream to join our Union.

Today, the European Union and Ukraine are already closer than ever before. There is still a long path ahead. We have to end this war. And we should talk about the next steps. But I am sure: nobody in this hemicycle can doubt that a people that stands up so bravely for our European values belongs in our European family.

And therefore, honorable Members, I say long live Europe. And long live a free and independent Ukraine.

My z vamy. Slava Ukraini.

(Loud and sustained applause)