CDE News – Strasbourg
Failure of the West to stop Vladimir Putin’s “shameful aggression” of Ukraine will force a “worse fate on Europe” sooner or later, Bozhena Boriak warned in an emotional address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Boriak, a Ukrainian citizen who escaped the conflict with her daughter while her husband remained in the capital to fight the Russians, strongly appealed for the introduction of a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Addressing a plenary session of the Conference on the Future of Europe, Boriak shared harrowing details of the situation in her home country, a reality which she was unable to explain to her young daughter. “One day we were living in peace, the next day we were in a war”, she said.
Seeking further military support for her country as bombs devastate cities around the country, she told delegates that “this tragedy affects the whole European family.” Despite the challenges, she promised that Ukrainians will not give up.
Describing European countries, including her own, as “petals of the same flower”, she also appealed for a fast-track process to accept her country in the European Union while also advocating the expulsion of Russia from the Council of Europe. “Do not do it for yourselves, but for democracy and your children”.
The plenary was also addressed Maria Mezentseva, a Ukrainian MP, who describing the situation in her home country as “a real battlefield of life”. She shared stories of daily life in Ukraine, with babies being born in shelters and authorities struggling to deliver basic necessities such as water and food to besieged cities because humanitarian corridors are being ignored.
Appreciating that a no-fly zone over the whole country might be difficult to implement, she called for this measure to be implemented on those cities which are being bombarded. She recalled that her country is home to no less than fifteen nuclear power plants, referring to them as “15 Chernobyls”, that could bring death and destruction on all Europe if they are hit during the Russian attacks.
With Russian planes flying combat missions in Ukraine, political analysts fear that no-fly zone creates a direct confrontation with Russia, escalating war between the world’s largest nuclear powers.
Cover Image – bozhenaboriak.com
