EU answer to Russia's war is closer relation with Ukraine

The EPP Group wholeheartedly welcomes Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky to the European Parliament.  "Today the European Parliament has the honour to welcome the moral leader of the democratic world, President Zelensky. Europe has stood with him and the Ukrainian people since the first minutes of the war, and I am sure we will continue to do so”, said Rasa Juknevičienė MEP, EPP Group Vice Chair responsible for foreign affairs.

Juknevičienė recalls that the European Parliament has always been at the forefront in paving the way for major decisions on Ukraine. “In the very first days of the war, we called for Ukraine's EU candidate status, for the supply of arms and the establishment of the Tribunal as top priorities for the EU. The Ukrainian cause and their bravery has undoubtedly united the European Parliament. We will not stop halfway. We must continue to help Ukrainians to defeat Putin as soon as possible. We hope that President Zelensky's visit is just the first of many in the near future, when negotiations for the EU membership pick up speed”, she stressed.  

“The unprovoked and illegal Russian war of aggression on Ukraine is also an aggression against peace and peaceful cooperation among European nations. The historical answer of the European Union is the tightening of our relationship with Ukraine, working from association to membership and from free trade to single market”, underlined Michael Gahler MEP, responsible for EPP Group’s position in the Committee of Foreign Affairs and European Parliament’s leading MEP for Ukraine.

“President Zelensky is leading the brave people of Ukraine in a defining period of history, together with local government representatives, civil society initiatives and hard-working State and public institutions”, Gahler added.