BTA :: Ukraine Changed Europe and the World - Ukraine's Deputy PM Stefanishyna

Ukraine Changed Europe and the World - Ukraine's Deputy PM Stefanishyna

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olga Stefanishyna, joined the EU Meets the Balkans forum in Sofia by video conference, May 16, 2023 (BTA Photo)

16.05.2023 12:10

(BTA)

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#Ukraine

Ukraine has changed Europe and the world, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olga Stefanishyna, said in a message to the EU Meets the Balkans forum which is taking place in Sofia Tuesday. She joined the discussion by video conference.

The forum is organised for the second consecutive year by the European Liberal Forum, supported by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria.

Stefanishyna said that Kiev was shelled 27 times that night alone.

She expressed special gratitude to Bulgaria for "its help to protect Ukraine's sky".

Stefanishyna pointed out that the Russian Federation had tried "to tear apart our unity, to undermine democracy, the values that we aspire to." In more than a year since the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine has become stronger, more resilient, more independent in many ways, and is determined to fight to final victory, the Ukrainian deputy prime minister said.

She argued that the status of a EU candidate country is most important for Ukraine as the war rages "in the heart of Europe" and stressed the importance of the European perspective for her country, as well as for Georgia and Moldova.

Regarding the EU membership of the Western Balkan countries, she called for a "broader design" of the EU enlargement policy.

In her words, military support for Ukraine and its armed forces, which seemed impossible once, has now become a priority for the EU.

She said EU sanctions against Russia were also making European countries stronger.

According to Stefanishyna, Russia seeks to continue the war of attrition, but this should not be allowed.

/DD/