Roberta METSOLA, EP President, is in Kyiv (Ukraine). She addresses the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada). In her speech, she reiterates the European Parliament's support to Ukraine's European path, to hold those responsible for the war accountable, and to rebuild cities and towns once the war is over.

EU - Ukraine (T)

statement

troubles in Ukraine (T)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

formal sitting

solidarity with Ukraine (T)

Roberta METSOLA, EP President, addresses the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada)

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Dear. Ruslan, dear members of the Rada, Dear Brave Warriors, dear brothers and sisters. Thank you for inviting me to Kiev and address the RADA. It is an honour to be here amongst you, fellow European parliamentarians.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, But more than that, it is a duty for me to be here. It is a duty that I must fulfil a responsibility to you on the front line to show the world that even in the darkness of war, parliamentary democracy is the light.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, I am here today as a representative of the European Parliament of the People of Europe to tell you one thing. We are with you.

paragraph-4 In good times and in less good times, we are with you. The images we have seen around the world these last horrible months have been of destruction, of death, of innocent lives torn apart, women, children forced to abandon their homes and their lives. But Europe and the world has also seen your courage and the defiance of Ukrainian families. The heroes of Snake Island are known across the globe.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, The proud warriors of Mariupol will inspire generations and generations to come. And soon, I have no doubt we will see the triumph of hope over fear because you show the world that no amount of terror can intimidate and that bombs will never destroy pride and they will never destroy dignity.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, The EU and the world has seen, that you are the defenders of your country, but you are not fighting only to protect, protect your homes and your territory. You are fighting for what we all believe in freedom, democracy, the rule of law. And here in Ukraine, these values are not buzzwords. They are being fought for because you know that without them, there is nothing else.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, The European Union was created to interlink the destinies of the nation states of Europe so that they could no longer engage in the kind of conflict that led in less than 30 years to two world wars. The European Union is a project for peace, but even above that, it is a project about freedom. And let me say that Ukraine is Europe.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, These are sad and tragic times so many Ukrainians have lost their lives, you have lost family members, relatives and friends. Our thoughts are, first of all with all of you. And please believe me when I say that the European Parliament, the European Union and the people of Europe stand with Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Now words can be they can inspire. And words can sometimes change the world. But the world also needs action. And the world also needs compassion. And I am here to convey that message of support and hope that we will not abandon Ukraine and we will not ever let down our guard.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Mariupol is a town I have never visited, but it is a name of a town that I will never, ever forget.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, The shelling of a maternity ward and the killing of children is an act that will go down in infamy. It is an act of inhumanity that sums up the nature of the threat that you have risen to face down, and we will never forget what happened there, ever.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Now, let me make three promises to you. First of all, this invasion of your country puts Russia in direct confrontation with Europe, the international community and the rules-based world order. And it is not something that we will let Putin do unchallenged. We need more and harder sanctions. We will hold those responsible accountable for what they have committed here.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Second, the European Union recognises Ukraine's European ambitions and your aspirations to be a candidate country for accession. And I stand before all of you here to say that you can count on me. You can count on the European Parliament in supporting your country spot in achieving this goal. We know what blood was built to get here and we will not let you down.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, And we know more than ever that Ukraine looks to the European Union as its destination. We will respond with honesty and with hope in every country has its own path, but the European Union future of Ukraine should never be in doubt.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Thirdly, we will take care of your families who are forced to flee. But until the day, they can safely return to their homes and rebuild their lives, and we will help you to rebuild your cities and your towns when this illegal, unprovoked and unjustified invasion is over.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, We have already provided assistance both in financial, military, humanitarian. This is will continue and this will increase. We will create the Ukraine Solidarity Trust Fund and organise an international donors conference to help rebuild. Because this attack on your homeland has changed everything.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, You did not invite this invasion, nor did you provoke it. You did not seek a confrontation, but you have risen to meet this moment. That is testament to the greatness of a people, to your courage, to your strength of character.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, And now my call is for the European Union to meet this moment with the same vigour, because this must be our whatever it takes moment. The rules-based world order remains strong. Putin miscalculated not only the courage and resistance of your country, but the strength of the democratic order.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, He fundamentally mistook our debates for weakness. And he has paid an unprecedented cost. Our sanctions hurt and we must go further still. Millions of your country, women and men have fled this country. Millions more are internally displaced and are expected to make their way to other European countries. We must be ready. But more importantly, we are willing to do what is necessary to provide a future without fear for those arriving at our borders.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, And that willingness will remain steadfast and it will never wane. The face of Europe. We will show, will continue to be one that is of open hearts and of open homes, a tangible expression of our shared European way where we match compassion with strength.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, We need to redouble our efforts to reduce our energy dependencies on the Kremlin. And I want to see a moment when Europe is completely free and secure with our energy supplies. In this moment of crisis, we need to remember that energy is and has always been political. Russia has understood this for years, but so have you. Europe's target must be towards a future of zero gas from Russia, zero gas.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, But this is ambitious, but it is necessary because the bottom line is that we should not, in consuming Kremlin energy, indirectly fund the bombs falling on your homes. And we will speed up our efforts to make sure that this happens sooner rather than later.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Allow me a word on the information war that we are facing. Not only do we need to bolster strengthen our cyber defences, but we need to keep pushing back against the narrative that confronting Putin makes Europe somehow anti-Russia. Russians standing up to Putin, and they are many, despite the threat of jail, are on the right side of history. They are on our side.

SOUNDBITE (English) Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Let me end by quoting Jonathan Sacks, who said. It's hard to defeat fear in the name of hope. It needs enormous courage. Yet as our powers of this destruction grow even greater, we need that courage even more. And in the words of your national poet, Tara Shevchenko. Keep fighting. You are sure to win. You have the courage. Ukraine has that courage. We are with you today. We will be with you tomorrow and we will never, ever leave your side.