This vision encouraged his country to remain strong against Russia, the Ukrainian president says before the European Parliament. “We share a common European history.”
The Ukrainian President is campaigning vigorously in Brussels for his country to join the EU. This is the “vision that encouraged us to remain strong,” said Volodymyr Zelensky, referring to the Russian attack almost a year ago. During an appearance in front of the EU Parliament, he paid tribute to Western democratic values and the achievements of the EU, such as freedom to travel, and said “we share a common European history”. Joining the European Union would be “a way for us to return home”.
Russia is the “biggest anti-European force in the modern world,” said Zelensky, and thanked the EU and all Europeans for their support in the fight against the invaders – he would later convey this to the EU heads of state and government. After his speech in front of the European Parliament, he will drive to their summit meeting in Brussels.
Parliament Speaker Roberta Metsola welcomed Zelenskiy with the words that this was a “historic day”. And it backed his call in Parliament for the delivery of longer-range fighter jets and missiles, which the governments of most Western allies have so far refused to do. Metsola paid tribute to the sacrifices Ukraine is making for Europe. The Ukrainians are Europeans, “their future lies in the European Union,” she said.
Zelensky’s speech to parliament was his second. At the first in early March 2022, however, he was only connected via video, that was a week after Russian troops invaded Ukraine. At that time, too, he had campaigned – in somewhat more emotional terms – for membership of the EU, which he had only officially applied for the day before.
Zelensky first visited London on Wednesday, where he met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and also gave a speech in front of Parliament. He then flew to Paris and spoke to President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Just last week, the heads of the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel – visited Selenskij in Kyiv. There he urged that the official negotiations on their EU accession be opened quickly. However, von der Leyen and Michel did not make any corresponding commitments.