The Russian invasion has underlined once again that countries and people must be free to determine their own future, said the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. In an editorial, the official noted that the EU has made it clear that it is ready to respond to its partners’ wish and integrate the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia into the Union and the EU is working hard to make this goal a reality, IPN reports.
Josep Borrell said that February 24, 2022 will forever be recalled as the day when Russia started its brutal, unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. “This was and remains a case of pure aggression and a clear-cut breach of the UN Charter. This war is neither ‘just a European issue’, nor is it about the ‘West versus the rest’. It is about the kind of world we all want to live in: no one is safe in a world where the illegal use of force – by a nuclear power and permanent member of the Security Council – would somehow be ‘normalized’. That is why international law must be enforced everywhere to protect everyone from power politics, blackmail and military attack,” runs the editorial.
According to the Vice-President of the European Commission, “one year on, there is a risk that people become inured to the images of war crimes and atrocities that they see – because there are so many; that the words we use start to lose their significance – because we have to repeat them so often; that we get tired and weaken our resolve – because time is passing and the task at hand is hard. This we cannot do. Because every day, Russia keeps violating the UN charter, creating a dangerous precedent for the whole world with its imperialist policy. Every day, Russia keeps killing innocent Ukrainian women, men and children, raining down its missiles on cities and civilian infrastructure. Every day, Russia keeps spreading lies and fabrications.
“It is not enough to say that we want Ukraine to be able to defend itself – it needs the means to do so. So, for the first time ever, the EU has supplied weapons to a country under attack. Indeed, the EU is now the leading provider of military training for Ukrainian personnel so they can defend their country. We are also offering significant macro-financial and humanitarian aid to support the Ukrainian people. And we have decided to respond positively to Ukraine’s request to join the EU. Finally, we are working to ensure accountability for the war crimes that Russia has committed.”
The official said the collective goal is and remains a democratic Ukraine that prevails, pushing out the invader, restoring its full sovereignty and, with that, restoring international legality. “Above all, we want peace in Ukraine, a comprehensive and lasting peace that is in line with the UN Charter and international law. Supporting Ukraine and working for peace go hand in hand. Russia’s aggressive revisionism and its wider destabilizing moves are a global threat, affecting the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership countries. We have seen the effects of Russia’s propaganda machine, trying to stir up legacies of the past and we see industrial-scale efforts at the manipulation of information and foreign interference,” noted Josep Borrell.
According to him, that is why the EU is working with partners, in particular its future member states, to counter this threat. “A key part of that is also supporting media freedom and political pluralism. We are also increasing our support to conflict resolution efforts in the South Caucasus […] History and justice are on the side of Ukraine. But to accelerate history and achieve justice, we need to amplify our ‘triple strategy’. We know this is a collective task. That is why the EU is counting on all its partners, to act in a spirit of joint responsibility and solidarity: to ensure that aggression fails and international law prevails,” concluded Josep Borrell.
