June 29. () –
The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, has stressed that the war in Ukraine “must be won” because it is not only a conflict between Russians and Ukrainians, but also whether International Law will continue to be applied.
“This is a fight that must be won because it is not just about Ukraine and Russia. It is about whether International Law will continue to apply. This is a violation of that law by one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. United”, Albanese remarked.
Upon his arrival this Wednesday at the NATO summit in Madrid, Albanese took the opportunity to emphasize that they will continue to offer their support to the Alliance in the Indo-Pacific region and has promised to participate in the next military maneuvers scheduled for this year.
“Australia will be here for a long time. We have been the largest contributor outside of NATO with $285 million in military assistance and another $65 million in humanitarian assistance,” he said.
“Sweden and Finland, which have historically taken neutral positions, have been forced to seek NATO membership due to Russian brutality in Ukraine and this shows how wrong Vladimir Putin’s decisions have been,” explained Albanese, who has indicated that these decisions have done “nothing more than strengthen” the Atlantic Alliance.
Faced with questions about China’s role in this crisis, Albanese believes that it is time for Beijing to observe “the determination that exists throughout the world”, condemn Russian aggression and leave behind that “association without limits” that it maintains with Moscow.
AGREEMENTS WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION
Albanese has said that in recent hours he has held “a series of successful bilateral meetings” with several leaders present at the summit, including the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, to try to move forward with the trade agreement between Brussels and Canberra, which had “stuck”.
“I have obtained a commitment from the European Commission to advance the trade agreement between Europe and Australia that had stalled in recent times,” said Albanese, who has also met with the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to discuss the free trade agreement between the two countries, which he trusts will “come into force at the end of this year”.
Albanese stressed that the trade agreement with the EU “represents a huge opportunity (…) for European companies to locate in Australia” and use the country “as a springboard” in the region.
“It gives us the opportunity to sell our products (…) and at the moment there are several trade barriers in Europe and we must ensure that with like-minded countries we have more trade to the benefit of both Europe and Australia,” he said.
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