President of Ukraine Volodomir Zelensky in the European Parliament
Quote from Bas Eickhout
On the meeting today between political group leaders and the President of Ukraine, Volodomir Zelensky, and ahead of today’s upcoming European Council Summit, Bas Eickhout MEP, President of the Greens/EFA Group, comments:
“It was a great honour to meet with President Zelensky in the European Parliament today. As the Greens/EFA Group, we stand with Ukraine and will keep up with support for as long it takes. Pro-European forces in this house need to work together in ensuring the financial and military support Ukraine needs.
“It’s clear that Ukraine needs urgent financial and military assistance over the coming months. The windfall profits from frozen Russian assets in the EU must be used to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression and Putin’s corrupt and imperialist regime. Viktor Orbán cannot be allowed to hold up EU efforts to provide financial and military assistance to Ukraine and stave off bankruptcy in the war torn country. The needs of the people of Ukraine must come before Orbán’s desire to please Putin and his cronies. At the same time, the EU needs to step up its speedy delivery of arms and ammunition, in particular air defence systems, and allow Ukraine to make full use of these weapons in line with international law.
“We must not bow down to far-right fear mongering and populist propaganda on migration. The right to asylum is an important pillar of the values the EU is based on, this must be upheld and defended by the European Commission. Deportation deals and offshore internment camps are an expensive and ineffective, knee jerk reaction to a complex situation. The EU’s reaction to migration cannot be to copy the failed policies of right wing governments in the UK and Australia. Our approach to asylum must be designed around the nuances and complexities that Europe faces, while maintaining human rights and protections for those fleeing war and persecution.”
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Bas Eickhout will be at the European Council summit and available for interviews and reactions from around 18.30 this evening.
