Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1456293
8 UKRAINE CRISIS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 2 MARCH 2022 Face down Putin's war machine, SEBASTIAN VASSALLO EUROPEAN Parliament presi- dent Roberta Metsola told MEPs in a debate on the Russian inva- sion in Ukraine that Europe was facing an existential threat, as Ukranians were making the ulti- mate sacrifice to delay a column of tanks entering the country. "Our European response was on display over the last painful days. This must be our "Whatev- er it Takes" moment," she said, referring to neighbouring EU states accepting refugees, imple- menting massive sanctions, and providing weapons to Ukraine. "We have declared that Rus- sian aircraft and oligarchs' pri- vate jets are no longer welcome in our open skies. We have moved for Russia to be discon- nected from the SWIFT system. We have banned Kremlin prop- aganda tools," she said. "The European Parliament has a long, proud, history of being a thorn in the side of autocrats and in that spirit, I will seek a ban on any representative of the Krem- lin from entering European Par- liament premises. Aggressors and warmongers have no place in the House of democracy." Metsola said Europe will stand up and face down Vladimir Pu- tin's war machine. "We will support the Interna- tional Criminal Court's juris- diction and investigation of war crimes in Ukraine. We will hold him accountable... just as we will hold Lukashenko." Metsola also said Europe had to redouble efforts to diversify energy systems that are not re- liant on Kremlin gas, stop the sale of passports to Putin's oli- garchs and bar access to their superyachts, but also to move towards a "real security and de- fence Union." "We have shown the last week that it is possible and desirable – and more than anything it is necessary." Zelenskyy addresses plenary in live speech President of Ukraine Volod- ymyr Zelenskyy addressed the European Parliament, in a live remote speech where he called for the EU to allow it to become a full member state. Zelenskyy called upon the Par- liament to show their European credentials by not abandoning Ukraine. "Do prove that you indeed are Europeans, make us equal with the other countries in the Union, as is the dream of Ukraine… we are at a minimum exactly the same as you are". "I'm glad Europe was unified in the condemnation of Russian ag- gression and the sanctions they are levying against the Kremlin. However the last few days have been hard. With cruise missile strikes on Kharkiv and Freedom Square… can you imagine?" Zelenksyy said that two revolu- tions, a war and five days of full- scale invasion were a lot to pay for Ukrainians. "I don't read off the paper, be- cause paper fades – we're deal- ing with killed people, with real life. I believe that today we're giving lives for rights, freedoms, values, we are giving away our best people, our strongest." Zelenskyy said he remained confident in the resolve and strength of the Ukrainian people to fight and win, and defiant in the face of the odds. "Nobody is going to break us, we are strong, we are Ukrainians." Birth of 'Geopolitical Europe' Josep Borrell, High Represent- ative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Pol- icy said: "This is the first time we are seeing a country invade an- other in Europe, it makes me sick when we look at the historical analogies. Instead of frightening us this should galvanize us." He described this moment as the birth of a "Geopolitical Eu- rope". "This is the first time we are seeing a country invade anoth- er in Europe. It makes me sick when we look at the historical analogies. Instead of frighten- ing us this should galvanize us… This reminds us that evil, trage- dy and war never fade away… "More than ever Europe must think strategically about itself, its environment and the world. This is not a luxury anymore, we need to think about retaliation and counter attack." Borrell said that any peace pro- cess requires two interlocutor, but for war there need only be one aggressor. "We need to in- crease our deterrence capacity in EU leaders and Ukranian president Volodymir Zelenskyy address European Parliament in historic debate on Russian invasion "This is a clash between the rule of law and the rule of the gun, between democracy and autocracy… How we respond will determine the future of the international environment."