Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine’s integration into the EU stated this during the panel discussion ‘Free Ukraine: what needs to be done?’ at ‘Forum 2000’.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze is convinced that the status of a candidate for EU accession gives not only Ukraine, but also its partners the opportunity to be fully involved in the transformation of Ukraine. This increases responsibility on the Ukrainian authorities: ‘The responsibility not only to our people, but also to our partners who trust us, who helped us take such an important step on the way to our European integration. We have a responsibility to them for carrying out reforms’.

The Chair of the Committee is convinced that even in the most difficult times, even during the war, there is an opportunity to transform Ukraine according to the best European and world standards: ‘There is always a temptation to use the war to change the system of checks and balances. However, Ukrainian society will never allow the authorities to deviate from the path of reforms. Society will not accept apologies and will not tolerate corruption. The dedication and interest of our partners, their supervision of what is happening in Ukraine already in its candidate status for EU accession, is also important. All this is a guarantee that Ukraine will not deviate from its path of transformation. I am sure that the reconstruction should take place along with the transformation of the country’.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze called on the free world to provide Ukraine with additional assistance — military and humanitarian aid, as well as sanctions against the Russian Federation in order to defeat Russia together. She drew attention to the fact that now the West is moving from the narrative ‘Russia cannot win this war’ to the narrative ‘Russia must be defeated’. ‘I think that there is still no awareness that Russia must not only be defeated, but also completely economically destroyed. So that it would never again be able to start a war against any other state. This gas station, which considers itself a state, must be deprived of the ability to attack in the future. And perhaps, as a result, Russia should be divided into smaller states. So far, little intellectual work has been put into figuring out what kind of Russia we will have to deal with in the future, after we all win’, said the Chair of the Committee.

She is convinced, the world must learn the lessons — the attempt to turn Russia into a democracy has already failed: ‘Russia has always waged wars of conquest. Always sought expansion. Only preventive actions of the entire free world could destroy this monster to ensure sustainable and really safe environment in the future. So, yes, we need more help. But we also need a change in the entire paradigm of thinking, and we have not seen it yet’.