February 24, 2022 will go down in
history 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 not “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.
اضافة اعلان
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.
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.
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.
For the EU and our partners, there
is no alternative to staying the course of our “triple strategy”: supporting
Ukraine, putting pressure on Russia to stop its illegal aggression, and helping
the rest of the world cope with the fallout.
This is what we have been doing for
one year now — and successfully so. We have adopted unprecedented sanctions;
cut our dependency on Russian fossil fuels; and in close collaboration with key
partners reduced by 50 percent the energy revenues the Kremlin gets to finance
its aggression. Working together, we have also mitigated the global ripple
effects with food and energy prices declining, partly thanks to our Solidarity
Lanes and to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
No one is safe in a world where the illegal use of force… would somehow be “normalized”. That is why international law must be enforced everywhere to protect everyone from power politics, blackmail, and military attack.
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.
Ukraine has shown its remarkable
resilience, partly thanks to this support. And Russia has grown more isolated,
thanks to global sanctions and the international condemnation by the
overwhelming majority of states in the UN General Assembly. Our 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
In all this, the EU does not ask
anyone to “pick a side”. We just ask everybody to stand on the side of the UN
Charter and international law. The support of many partner countries at the UN
and elsewhere for the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty and
international law is crucial.
The EU is fully committed to uphold
international law everywhere, not just in Ukraine. We have learned, including
from our own past mistakes, that we cannot afford a selective approach to
international law. This is why, for decades, we have been working to end
conflicts and build sustainable peace around the world, including in the Middle
East. Our position on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is
principled, routed in international law and in line with UN Security Council
Resolutions.
We also need to be clear that
Russia’s actions are responsible for the economic shockwaves in terms of food,
energy and fertilizers. We have always exempted Russian energy, food, and
fertilizers from EU sanctions and we are monitoring any possible unintended
effects. The EU is working hard to address food security needs and we have
increased our funding.
More broadly, the Russian invasion
has underlined the need to avoid excessive dependencies. The EU and our
partners in the Middle East must strengthen their collaboration to build more
resilient and inclusive economies, protect our democracies and strengthen
social cohesion.
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.
Josep Borrell is the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy.
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