President of the Riigikogu: EU perspective and NATO door must remain open to Ukraine  

NordenBladet —

At the meeting of the Speakers of the Parliaments of the Baltic States and Sweden in Riga today, President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas stated that the Western countries would not abandon Ukraine, who is fighting for the democratic world order, and that the NATO door and the membership perspective of the European Union had to remain open to Ukraine.

President of the Riigikogu Jüri Ratas, Speaker of the Saeima (Parliament) of Latvia Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen and Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag (Parliament) of Sweden Åsa Lindestam met in Riga today and gave a joint press conference.

Ratas said at the press conference that the NATO door had to remain open to every country that fulfils the membership requirements. “The admission decision will not be dictated by any non-member no matter how aggressive. Ukraine will be free to choose its own path,” Ratas underlined. In his opinion, Ukraine also deserves and needs the membership perspective of the EU. “The Ukrainians showed their resolve already back in 2014 and they have done a great job in reforming the society in the last eight years. These efforts should be taken into account in the perspective of the future membership,” Ratas explained.

“Today we have discussed what more we could do to support Ukraine and Ukrainians in their fight,” Ratas said. “In addition to what the members of EU and NATO have already done, we have to show more resolve to repel the aggressor and to hold it accountable for its actions. The sanctions must be fully targeted and implemented at the highest level.”

Ratas thinks that it goes without saying that both the military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine must continue until the war is over. We are also ready to provide help to the people fleeing the war.

Ratas pointed out that the Parliaments could help Ukraine by adopting national statements and resolutions, by demonstrating our support to Ukraine in parliamentary assemblies and international organizations, by demanding immediate secession of the Russian aggression and withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine.

Ratas said at the press conference that in last few days the world had witnessed a gross breach of the international law, aggression against a sovereign state and brutal human rights violations. “This was not a surprise – the aggressor did not hide his plans,” Ratas added, and recalled that this vile crime against a sovereign state reminded us of something similar from the last century, when the Soviet Union used the same tactic in November 1939 attacking Finland. “Stalin lost the war back then and Putin will also lose it.”

Photos of the meeting Saeima of Latvia

Source: Parliament of Estonia