Addressing the European Parliament after two years of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the President of the European Parliament renewed Europe's promise to the people of Ukraine and said that our support will remain for as long as it takes.
Dear colleagues,
Two years ago, the world order was upended by Russia’s illegal invasion of sovereign, independent Ukraine. They thought that they could take Kyiv in a matter of days. They miscalculated the determination of the Ukrainian people and they underestimated the resolve of the European Union and the international community.
Ukraine has inspired and continues to inspire the world.
A few weeks after the initial invasion I spoke in the name of the Members of this European Parliament, in Kyiv, in front of the Verkhovna Rada and beside President Zelenskyy. I made a promise on behalf of all us: that we would stand with Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes.
In the past two years, Europe has kept that promise. We will keep that promise still. Our political, economic, military, financial, humanitarian and diplomatic support has remained steadfast.
The European Union is the largest financial supporter of Ukraine with 88 billion euros provided so far. We are ramping-up our EU defence industry’s production capacity to provide Ukraine with over 1 million artillery rounds by the end of the year. An agreement on the additional 50 billion euros Ukraine Facility, pending agreement on the MFF, was also reached last night. Funding that is crucial for Ukraine’s survival, recovery, and reconstruction.
We know the sacrifice that the Ukrainian people are enduring. We know they endure it for their sake and for all of Europe. For our collective security. For our shared values. For our way of life.
The European Parliament was the first to call for Ukraine to receive EU candidate status and we were the strongest advocate for EU accession negotiations to start last year. Because we know that Ukraine’s place is within our Union.
As we enter the third year of Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine, I want to use this moment to renew this promise that we made to the Ukrainian people. We are with you and we will remain with you.
Slava Ukraini.
You can read the President's speech in Ukrainian here.