Speaker: Ska KELLER (Germany — Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
Political group: Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Date: 2022-04-06
Debate: Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 24-25 March 2022: including the latest developments of the war against Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Russia and their implementation (debate)

  Ska Keller,  on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, we are all shocked by the atrocities that Russia is committing in Ukraine. The images, the testimonies of the survivors, they are unbearable. But we must not remain paralysed. There can be no questions. These more crimes cannot remain without reaction. We must take action and respond with further sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s criminal regime. Europe’s answer must be decisive and united. We need to continue to support Ukraine in its efforts to defend its freedom, including comprehensive and immediate financial assistance. And we must ensure that those who are responsible for those atrocious acts will be prosecuted and held accountable in front of the International Criminal Court. Injustice cannot and must not prevail. 
Dear colleagues, the war in Ukraine revealed Europe’s strategic mistakes in the past. Even after the atrocities done in Grozny and in Syria, very similar to what we see today in Bucha, even after Putin invaded Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, some governments continued to hope for good business with Russia and made us more and more dependent on goods from Russia, on energy and on other items. And this has led us today to a situation where we are struggling to free ourselves from the short—sighted dependence on fossil fuels and uranium. 
Many mistakes were made, and now we need to make things right. We need to invest heavily in renewables and transition faster than we ever thought. This is, and will be, an enormous effort, and it won’t happen overnight. But we need to redefine what it means to act as fast as possible. We need to move to light speed. We need to save energy. Therein lies the huge potential that remains untapped so far. And this is true for individuals, sure, but also and even more so for industries and for policies –and the European Parliament must join efforts here as well. 
We also need to recognise that while the effects of the war will hit all of us, they hit us very differently. The biggest cost is obviously carried by the people who have lived and who still live in Ukraine. Those who died, whose close ones were killed, those who were injured and are being injured at the moment, those who fled and those who are fleeing the carnage, losing their home, their life plans, and often leaving family and friends behind. There is so much sorrow and so much despair in this suffering. 
When we are debating here the consequences of sanctions that we are rightfully taking, we need to keep in mind that us here in the Chamber are not the ones who will be most hit by them. Rising energy costs are a nuisance to some and an existential threat to others. We need to support those most in need – the families with small or no income. The European Council hasn’t been very conclusive on the issues of how to support those most in need in the EU and worldwide, looking at the hunger issues, and how to further support Ukraine. 
Of course, many of the instruments needed are indeed national ones, but it is clear that we need solidarity among Member States to deal with this crisis – solidarity in sharing energy and infrastructure, solidarity to enable measures, solidarity with everyone fleeing Ukraine, and solidarity with the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Putin wants to divide us and he has failed miserably. Our unity is our strength, and we need more of it – of unity, but also of courage.