The EP Media Service hold seminar for journalists on ‘‘Towards a better gender equality: Legislative work of the European Parliament’’, with key MEPs and members of Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament, Ivanna KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE, Chairperson of the Committee on Integration into the European Union and Inna SOVSUN. President Metsola and Robert BIEDROŃ, Chair of FEMM Committee, deliver remarks.

EU - Ukraine (T)

plenary session

troubles in Ukraine (T)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

International Women's Day (T)

seminar

BIEDROŃ, Robert (S&D, PL)

MSU seminar on International Women's Day in presence of Roberta METSOLA, EP President and Robert BIEDROŃ (S&D,PL), Chair of FEMM Committee

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP president, We would have also wanted to commemorate the 8th of March as International Women's Day, not under a shadow of of a war. And I would really like to commend our colleagues from the Ukrainian parliament who for their bravery and their persistence in fighting for their country. With the illegal, vicious Russian invasion of Ukraine, we see that the horrors of war have returned to Europe. And just like in other crises, women and girls are the first victims. It has been 12 days of full scale warfare, and over one and a half million peaceful Ukrainian civilians have been forced to flee their home in search of safety.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP president, And most of these refugees are women and children, and those are the ones that got out. On the ground in Ukraine, women are barricading themselves in their homes. They are learning how to make Molotov cocktails. They're delivering babies in metro stations and they are schooling their children in bunkers. And every day they need to make the choice between either sheltering themselves or taking up arms. In fact, 20 percent of the Ukrainian military is made up of women, and many of them are not officially enlisted

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivanna KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE, Chairperson of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on Ukraine&#8217;s Integration into the European Union, More than 100000 people have lined up to the territorial defence and women are joining both the armed forces standing shoulder to shoulder side by side with our male colleagues in the territorial defence. They are volunteering as and helping with humanitarian needs to others. That means that they they are not standing silent and they are fully engaged in in the fight against the aggressor, against the terrorist state of Russia

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivanna KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE, Chairperson of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on Ukraine&#8217;s Integration into the European Union, We are calling on no fly zone. We are calling air defence on aeroplanes, on on the military, massive military assistance on fuel, on protective gear to be given to Ukrainians because we are fighting right now for values

SOUNDBITE (English), Ivanna KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE, Chairperson of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada on Ukraine&#8217;s Integration into the European Union, Ukrainians are not going to give in on their land, that Ukrainians are not going to give up, that Ukrainians will be protecting and defending their their motherland. That's what we are doing. But we need reinforcement on this

SOUNDBITE (English), Inna SOVSUN, Member of Parliament at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, I would just tell you a few stories, several stories from Ukraine right now, which are particularly painful to myself. Just this morning, I read a story of a woman who had to put her 11 year old son, who is two years older than my own son. My son is nine years old, and she had to put her 11 year old son onto the train alone and the pain was going to the western border. And this woman had to leave her son in the train alone because she couldn't leave because she had a disabled mother that she had to take care of. That was in South and Ukraine, which is largely controlled or contested by Russian forces right now. And I just can't imagine this pain and fear that this woman was having in her heart when she had to leave her son all alone without not a single person supporting him and worrying that he will have to get to the western border himself. The boy did get to the western border, but that is just one of the stories of what mothers and fathers have to go through right now

SOUNDBITE (English), Robert BIEDRO&#323;, Chair of FEMM Committee, We are facing the real issue of the situation of millions of girls and women who are forced to run away from the danger in Ukraine.The terrible war against the they are running away from the bombs, from the bombardments, and we are here to give them not only solidarity, but also the real support.