Dear attendees, dear representatives of cities and communities – direct representatives of the people,
President Jung, President Cools, President Tüttő,
All representatives of Eurocities,
I want to thank you for your unity and for standing with Ukraine – and therefore with all of Europe. Our continent has likely built its strength in just this way – through unity, through peaceful cooperation, and through the resilience and extraordinary potential of European cities and regions. Every part of Europe matters to the whole of Europe – and it is we who prove this through our united efforts and mutual respect.
Today, those of you who are in Ukraine – right here – witnessed yet another brutal Russian attack against Ukrainian cities across the entire territory of our state: from Chernihiv in the North of our country to Lutsk in the West, from Kyiv to our southern regions. Over just this one night, there were more than 400 attack drones and over 40 missiles – including ballistic missiles. With this strike, the Russians damaged residential buildings and ordinary, of course, ordinary city infrastructure in Kyiv. In Lutsk, Volyn region, an ordinary hotel where Ukrainian athletes were staying was destroyed. In other regions, residential infrastructure, energy infrastructure, and industrial enterprises were damaged, unfortunately. The Russians even burned down yet another warehouse with humanitarian aid. This is what the Russian war is – they are waging war against cities and against life itself. Wherever the Russian army has set foot on Ukrainian soil, wherever there is, unfortunately, Russian occupation – normal life has vanished. In some cities, tragically, nothing remains at all – only scorched ruins. Once lively cities and towns in the Donetsk region – industrial cities like Mariupol, for example – are now barely alive. And in place of many Ukrainian cities and villages — there is simply dead land. This is what Russia is – this is what it does best: killing and destroying. We must stop it together. Peace is a task not only for national-level politicians. We need the truth that mayors – and, very importantly, community leaders – can convey to their people. We need political work for peace to be supported at the level of local self-government as well. We need cities and communities to be able to support one another. And I thank you for the fact that this is truly happening. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who is here, to those joining us online, to those listening now or who will watch a bit later – thank you for your support!
Over the years of this war, many of you have truly given strong support to Ukraine, to our communities, to Ukrainians – to individuals, families, children – to all of us. We are deeply grateful for that. You are helping our resilience, helping people survive, endure, and stand strong. You are helping with recovery – and of course, full recovery is an enormous task, but we are already taking concrete steps. Hundreds of infrastructure facilities have already been rebuilt together with our friends in Europe, with our friends and partners in various countries, in the United States – thanks to cooperation between regions and cities. I am especially grateful to those of you who helped us get through the winters of this war – when the Russians did everything they could to plunge us into blackout. Thanks to our cooperation, we received over 7,000 units of energy equipment, and there are already 454 projects in alternative energy underway. We deeply value our cooperation in the field of cultural diplomacy and in supporting our people who, during the war, have found refuge in your cities and communities – our people among yours. Refuge truly matters, and I thank you for showing respect for Ukrainians, despite the length of this war. Thank you. And thank you for our shared understanding that Ukraine will undoubtedly become a full member of the European Union. We see how much Ukraine can offer to all of Europe – our experience, our aspiration to be free, our ability to provide a foundation for unity – all of this is undoubtedly needed by Europe, and by the European Union in particular. This year, we truly need progress in the accession negotiations – and I want to thank each and every one of you who supports us on this path. The most important thing we can achieve together is ending the war with a dignified peace and establishing reliable security guarantees for Ukraine and for all of Europe – so that no one in Europe has to fear being left unprotected. We can do this. Please support all efforts aimed at exerting entirely justified pressure on Russia – support diplomatic efforts, political and economic pressure. Please call for new and effective sanctions against Russia, against their regime – for the sake of stopping the killings and strikes, for the sake of achieving a true peace, for the sake of making sure that Russia’s accountability for the war is truly felt – felt in Moscow. We need resolve at all levels – and the more cities and communities speak out about this, the better. Resolve so that no one ever again dares to repeat what the Russians are doing to Ukraine and Ukrainians – and so that the Russians are forced to seek peace. Right now, they are looking for ways to drag this war out even further and, in my view, what they are doing is bargaining for it. They must feel that peace is necessary. Please help us not only with resilience, but also with important political efforts for the sake of peace. Once again, I want to thank all of you for being here today, in Ukraine – and not only today. Thank you for standing with, perhaps, one of the freest and strongest countries throughout this time, this difficult time.
Thank you for standing with Ukraine.
Glory to Ukraine!
