Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze discussed Ukraine's needs and further support in Germany. The discussion was organised on the platform of the European Affairs Committee of the Bundestag. Representatives of Ukrainian and German political forces were invited. The meeting was opened by the Chairman of the Committee on the European Union in the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter, and the Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze thanked Germany for its leadership and assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, she noted that today Ukraine needs more weapons for defence and liberation of its territories: “We need more weapons to protect our energy infrastructure and to ensure air defence. We also need offensive weapons that will allow us to liberate our land from the enemy and fully concentrate on the transformation of the country.” The Chair of the Committee hopes that Germany, which supported the opening of negotiations with Ukraine on EU membership, will continue to support Ukraine's progress on this path. However, the primary needs today are to protect the country and to win the war. “In order to be successful in our European integration, we obviously need to protect the country first. And not only our country. If a house is on fire, it is quite difficult to paint walls in it. And today, not only the house of Ukraine is burning, but the house of Europe,” — said Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU noted that the European Union was established as an economic community. But today it is first of all the territory of common values. “They don't trade values, they protect them. Including, from members of the community who violate them. Or they should stop being members of such a community,” said the Chair of the Committee. She also expressed concern about the strengthening of the discourse on freezing the war in Ukraine. “Any freezing of the conflict means postponing the war. Freezing the war in Ukraine will encourage Russia to wage new wars, and not only in the post-Soviet area. This would mean that international law no longer exists and that all declarations of territorial integrity mean nothing. Freezing the war will mean inviting other authoritarian regimes to aggression,” said the Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU.