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BRUSSELS, September 11 () –
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel reiterated the European Union’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity at the Crimea Platform summit on Wednesday.
In a video address, Von der Leyen said that the European bloc “will never tire of supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine” during the forum, which was held for the fourth time to demand the return to Ukraine of the peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
“Only where borders matter is there security and peace for people. For ten years, Crimea has been a testing ground for the brutal tactics that Russia is now using across occupied Ukraine,” he said.
In this regard, he has referred to the deportation of Crimean Tatars in the Soviet era and noted that in the face of “disappearances, torture and attempts to erase Tatar culture and the persecution of journalists and human rights defenders”, the EU supports Ukraine in documenting these crimes to ensure that justice is done.
On the prospects of ending the conflict in Ukraine, the German conservative stressed the need to achieve a peace that is “just and lasting.” “True peace is one that guarantees that war cannot return. A peace that allows people to focus on their future,” she argued, pointing out that this is the ultimate goal of Ukraine’s community integration.
For his part, the President of the European Council has claimed in another video message that “Crimea is Ukraine” and pointed out that the EU has been saying this “loud and clear” for ten years. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the illegal occupation of Crimea, Michel recalled that the Russian aggression against Ukraine did not begin in February 2022 but in February 2014, with the invasion of the peninsula located in the Black Sea.
In this regard, the former Belgian Prime Minister has joined the demands for a “fair” peace based on the principles of the United Nations Charter and the peace formula of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We firmly support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and all other nations of the world. We will continue to help them build support for their peace plan based on these fundamental principles,” he said.
Michel concluded his speech with a message in line with Ukraine’s European aspirations, pointing out that the EU is “the home” of Ukrainians and insisting that the bloc is determined to maintain support for kyiv “for as long as necessary.”
“We will continue to mobilize the international community to isolate Russia and demonstrate to the world that the Kremlin’s behavior is extremely dangerous for all of us,” he said.
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