NordenBladet —

President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Jüri Ratas is on a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine. Today, he delivered a speech at the sitting of the Verkhovna Rada, where he said that although we did not know when the war started by Russia would end, it must end with Ukraine winning and Russia losing.

Ratas said before the Parliament of Ukraine that the brutal war that Russia had started in Ukraine had now lasted for almost 300 days. He underlined that Russia’s aggression had caused immense suffering to the people of Ukraine, tens of thousands had been killed and millions had been forced to leave their homes. He is convinced that Russia alone bears the responsibility for this.

“We don’t know when this war will end, but we do know that it will not end with Russia winning,” Ratas said, and pointed out that history had taught us that the issue of responsibility was extremely important. He added that Estonia supported independent and effective investigations into the crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, as well as establishing a Special Tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression in Ukraine. “In addition, Russia has to pay reparation for the damage caused to Ukraine.”

Ratas assured that Estonia stood firmly by the side of Ukraine and that this would remain so until all the occupied territories had been liberated and justice had been served. According to him, Estonia together with other democratic countries has worked to raise the costs of aggression, to impose further sanctions and to isolate Russia on the international arena. “Our political, military and economic support to Ukraine has also increased over the recent months,” he said, and assured that Estonia would continue assisting Ukraine with necessary equipment and training and also call on its NATO Allies to increase defence assistance.

Ratas said that Estonia’s economic and humanitarian assistance was focusing on helping Ukraine to survive the winter and to cope with the damage to energy infrastructure. According to him, Estonia also considers it important to start with the reconstruction of Ukraine, where Estonia has contributed for several months. “Our particular focus is on the region of Zhytomyr, where, as the first step, Estonia is building a kindergarten in the city of Ovruch and rebuilding a bridge in Malyn. We are also sending 44 buses to Zhytomyr and other regions in order to help restore the public transport,” he said.

In his speech at the Verkhovna Rada, Ratas reaffirmed Estonia’s support to Ukraine on the way to the European Union. In his opinion, achieving the candidate country status is a big step forward, but it is still only the beginning of the road leading to the membership in the EU. He emphasised that Estonia was ready to share its experience and help Ukraine to advance towards future EU membership. Ratas also confirmed support to Ukraine’s NATO aspirations.

The President of the Riigikogu also spoke of the excellent relations between the parliaments of Estonia and Ukraine that had intensified even further during the war. “But of course, the bonds have strengthened not only between our politicians, but first and foremost between our people. Estonia is currently a new home for more than 60,000 Ukrainians who had to leave Ukraine because of Russia’s aggression. As the result, the population of Estonia is today 5% larger than it was a year ago,” he said, and added that the people of Estonia had warmly welcomed the Ukrainians and supported them. “Perhaps the best example of this strong solidarity is the fact that over 80% of all the humanitarian assistance provided by Estonia has been donated by private persons, private companies and NGOs.”

Ratas recalled that on 24 February 2023, Estonia would celebrate the 105th Anniversary of the Republic of Estonia and this would also be the day when a year passed from the moment Russia had started its brutal aggression against Ukraine. “I wish that by this date, the last Russian soldier has left the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine. Even if my wish may be too optimistic, one thing is absolutely clear – Russia will lose this war and Ukraine will win this war! So that Ukrainian people could freely decide on their future, so that Estonia and Ukraine could belong together to the Euro-Atlantic family of the democratic countries,” Ratas said in his speech in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Today morning Ratas met with Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk and First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Korniyenko in Kyiv.

Ratas is visiting Ukraine for the third time this year. His first visit to Ukraine this year was at the beginning of February. On 24 March, exactly one month after Russia had started the full-scale war, Ratas visited Ukraine together with his Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts

Photos of the visit and video of the speech at the Verkhovna Rada  (Erik Peinar / Chancellery of the Riigikogu)

Source: Parliament of Estonia