Ukraine defends “the European way of life”, assures Zelensky in Brussels

MISE À DAY

By defending its territory, Ukraine is also defending Europe, its values ​​and its “way of life”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hammered home in Brussels on Thursday. 

“We are defending ourselves against the most anti-European force in the modern world. We defend ourselves, we defend you,” he said in a speech to the European Parliament, to loud applause.

“The Ukrainian way of life, the European way of life are put in danger “, insisted the Head of State, present in Brussels for a summit of the Twenty-Seven after having gone to London and Paris the day before, in order to demand increased military aid from the Europeans.

“Once Ukraine falls, your way of life will fall, that of the 27 EU states. Your way of life will disappear. We must not let this happen,” he insisted to MEPs.

For Ukraine, “Europe, Europe's way of life, is our home . I come before you today to defend access to this house, this front door,” he added.

Four months after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the leaders of the Twenty-Seven have granted Ukraine EU candidate status and Kyiv would like to start pre-negotiations. -accession by the end of this year.

But if candidate status was granted in record time, the rest of the process, suspended on ambitious reforms demanded of Ukraine, should be long.

“We have a common history, it is that of Europe”, noted Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke for the first time in person before the Parliament in Brussels.< /p>

He praised “a European way of life, where the individual and the law prevail, where states and societies try to help each other and understand their diversity of values ​​(…), where borders are not violated ( …), where people have confidence in the future”.

The Ukrainian President once again thanked the Europeans for their significant military, financial and humanitarian support since the outbreak of the war: ” EU countries and Ukraine have joined forces” based on the principle that “we all represent the integrity of Europe in our own way”, he said.

< p>“It's not just a simple war of territorial conquest in a corner of Europe”, he still judged.

“We don't want to waste time, we don't want to give up. We do not want to lose Europe's achievements. We want Europe to remain Europe and this is only possible as long as we remain united, you and us”, underlined Mr. Zelensky, before being given a standing ovation by the parliamentarians.