Speech in the debate on the conclusions of the European Council of 24 and 25 March 2022, including the latest developments in the war in Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Russia and their implementation
Madam President, High Representative, my dear colleagues. “Yes, yes”, a Russian opposition journalist who has taken refuge in Berlin, where he runs a website which is very, very, very popular in Russia, told me this weekend. “Yes, yes,” he said, “but what can I say to those of my compatriots who say to me: “But the Europeans, the Westerners are hostile to us, since they are taking these sanctions against us, and we are going to suffer. He was asking me this question after the publication of this address to the Russian people which the chairmen of four of our main political groups signed. I replied: “But listen, it’s very simple: tell them that these sanctions that we are taking, we are also suffering from them. We are suffering too, but we accept to take them and to suffer because we could not remain silent in front of the aggression against Ukraine. And he was grateful for my answer, and he said: “Yes, very well, I will quote you. Thank you. Perfect.”
But at the same time I was thinking, in my own head: “But am I really sincere? Are we willing to suffer that much?” And I knew that, yes, we accept a little, but not totally, but not completely, but not as much as the Russians are going to suffer, and certainly not as much, it goes without saying, as the Ukrainians are suffering at every moment from the war and not from the sanctions.
So, my dear colleagues, I have signed, along with a dozen other Members, a small amendment to tomorrow’s resolution. A small amendment in which we ask that the words “as swiftly as possible” concerning the gas embargo be removed. We have governments. They will see how quickly it can be done. But we, the Parliament, must express by an absolute and overwhelming majority our indignation and our desire for the strongest, most comprehensive sanctions. We are the voice of the European nation. Let us carry it, all the way to Moscow, and certainly to Kyiv.
