The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzolaculminated on Friday, April 1, his visit to Ukraine, the first by a leader of a European institution to this country at war, with a meeting with the head of the Ukrainian State, Volodymyr Zelenskyof whom he highlighted his “courage, strength, determination” and moved that the financial, military and humanitarian support of the European Union “will continue”.
Both Zelensky – who began his speeches before parliaments around the world on March 1 in an extraordinary plenary session of the European Parliament – as well as the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, and the president of the Rada (parliament), Ruslan Stefanchuk, from whom he started the invitation to Metsola to go to kyiv, Maltese politics brought a “message of hope” and support for the pro-European aspirations of the Ukrainian peoplewhich he also developed in a speech in a plenary session before the Ukrainian deputies.
“Courage, strength, determination. With Zelensky in kyiv. Long live Ukraine!”, tweeted Metsola in a message on his official Twitter account, as the culmination of his surprise visit, in which appears in an office in the middle of a handshake with the Ukrainian presidentBoth dressed in green short-sleeved shirts with the flags of Ukraine and the European Union in the background.
Courage, strength, resolve.
With @ZelenskyyUa in Kyiv 🇺🇦
Slava Ukraine!#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/SNc2pLwQ0y
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) April 1, 2022
An image uploaded to this social network almost 24 hours after announcing the day before that he was “on his way” to kyiv, where he advocated this Friday for going “further” in the sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine, as well as for “redoubling efforts” to initially reduce the European Union’s energy dependency on Russia, with the “ambitious” objective of cutting it off completely in the future.
“Europe‘s goal must be to go towards a future without gas from Russia. Zero gasoline. This is ambitious but necessary”, defended the president of the European Parliament in her speech before the Rada, the full content of which she shared with a link on her official Twitter account and disclosed her press service in Brussels.
The Maltese politician, who took charge of the European Parliament at the end of last January, he defended the need to “redouble” efforts to reduce “energy dependence on the Kremlin” and underlined his desire to “see a time when Europe is completely free and secure with our energy supply”.
Metsola also defended the adoption “more and harsher penaltiesagainst Russia and that Ukraine will one day join the European Unionwhile assuring that the EU will help rebuild the country and hold those responsible for the war “accountable”.
“Each country has its own path, but Ukraine’s future in the European Union should never be in doubt”, affirmed the president of the European Parliament.
As he did previously in a meeting with the Ukrainian Prime Minister and the Rada Speaker, Metsola assured the Ukrainian parliamentarians that The Twenty-seven will take care of the people forced to flee the country, mostly women and children, and who already exceed four million, “until the day they can return safely to their homes and rebuild their lives”.
Metsola also assured that the EU will help rebuild Ukrainian cities and towns “when this illegal, unprovoked and unjustified invasion” of Russia ends, while recalling the European financial, military and humanitarian assistance already provided and that it “will continue and increase”.
In this sense, he recalled that the Ukraine Solidarity Trust Fund and on April 9th, a meeting will be organized in Warsaw International Donor Conference to help rebuild.
The visit of the president of the European Parliament to kyiv is “a powerful signal of political supportShmyhal said on his Twitter account. An idea also highlighted by Stefanchuk, for whom Metsola is “a real friend from Ukraine” and his presence in the capital “an extremely important and symbolic expression of solidarity with the Ukrainian people”.
Metsola was preceded in a similar initiative on March 15 by the Prime Ministers of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, of the Czech Republic, Pietr Fiala, and of Slovenia, Janez Jansa, who traveled to kyiv, on a mission of which they informed the European Union (EU) and NATO, according to Polish sources at the time.
He called for more help for countries hosting Ukrainians
The president of the European Parliament asked this Saturday more aid for countries like Poland and others bordering Ukraine, which are taking in refugees fleeing the Russian invasion.
Visiting Poland after traveling to Ukraine, Metsola thanked the Polish authorities, the NGOs operating in that country and the volunteers, for the “exceptional effort in the reception and hosting of Ukrainian families fleeing the war”, reported the European Parliament in a statement.
Metsola, who met today with the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawieckiand with Ukrainian refugees arriving in Poland, it was declared “impressed by the efforts made by Poland, its communities and its citizens. You have given people in need a safe and secure space. It’s moving to see, it’s the best of Europe“, said.
The president of the European Parliament considered that “Poland has been bearing the brunt of the consequences of the war outside Ukraine” and that for this reason it needs, like other countries that are receiving and sheltering people who suffer from the war in Ukraine, “more support”.
On the other hand, a delegation from the European Parliament that this Saturday concluded a visit to Moldova, a country that is not part of the EU but that is also receiving hundreds of thousands of refugees, called on the EU to “continue to intensify your efforts to help Moldova provide shelter and assistance to people fleeing war”.
They also called for Moldova’s support in strengthening its energy security arrangements and its resilience against hybrid threats, in particular against cyber-attacks and disinformation..
The delegation, which began its visit to that country on March 31, valued the generosity shown by the Moldovan population to the refugees.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com