Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze: “Without Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO there will be no stable peace on the continent”
05 March 2024, 14:13
The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU, Ivanna
Klympush-Tsintsadze, emphasised this in her speech at the
Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Common Foreign Policy, Security Policy,
and Common Defence Policy. During a discussion on Western support for
Ukraine in the fight against Russia, the Chair of the Committee stressed
that it is important to realise that this support is not only for Ukraine,
but also for the whole of Europe, Western civilisation, and the entire
democratic world. “Russia led the axis of evil formed by autocracies and
assumed military leadership. It wants to conquer Ukraine. It wants Ukraine
to surrender, completely or at least partially. Everyone who calls for
negotiations now should remember that the Kremlin violated almost all
serious agreements with Ukraine and NATO countries,” said Ivanna
Klympush-Tsintsadze. According to her, there is no guarantee that even if
Russia gets what it wants, it will not start a new war and use force
elsewhere. “If we want to survive, our only chance is to continue
fighting. No country in the world can fight back such a brutal attack on
its own, thus we are counting on the help of international partners,”
emphasised Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.
According to the Chair of the Committee, Russia is already waging the
Third World War with hybrid, military and non-hybrid methods, not only in
Ukraine, Syria, and Africa but also in Europe through cyber-attacks and
subversive activities. However, there is still a narrative in the world
that this is the Ukrainian war. “We are attacked by a barbarian with an
axe in his hands, and we try to counter him with a sword according to
duelling rules, which he simply disregards. While Russians are killing our
children, turning our fertile lands into a desert, destroying our
flourishing cities, forcibly deporting our children, and our citizens, and
abusing our people, there are a lot of countries that are still
considering whether their weapons may be used against legitimate military
targets in Russia and whether Ukraine should get tools to protect itself
and all the Europe from the Russian attack,” said Ivanna
Klympush-Tsintsadze.
She emphasised again that the best humanitarian aid to Ukraine is weapons.
“For Ukraine to win, we need the world and Ukraine to mobilise in the
joint production and purchase of weapons, which should be transferred to
Ukraine,” said the Chair of the Committee. She also thanked Western
partners for financial support and stressed that not only profits from the
assets but also Russian assets themselves should be transferred to
Ukraine. “Would Churchill have considered whether he should use Nazi
Germany's assets for Britain's military needs in the war?” asked Ivanna
Klympush-Tsintsadze.
She stressed that Ukraine's allies should find a consensus on the concept
of Russia's defeat. “This is not only a return to the borders of Ukraine
in 1991, but also the impossibility of a new Russian attack anywhere in
the world in the future. We must deal with the fear of the defeat of the
Russian Federation. Russia’s victory or an uncertain end to the war will
have much worse consequences for the world,” said Ivanna
Klympush-Tsintsadze. The Chair of the Committee also insisted that without
Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO, there will be no stable peace on
the continent.