Speech by ECR Group Co-Chairman Nicola Procaccini in the European Parliament during the extraordinary plenary debate marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Thank you, President,

Dear colleagues,

Four years ago, the world stood by as the foundations of the international order were torn down. Today we gather not out of obligation, but out of conviction. We are here to state clearly and firmly that the freedom of all European peoples is inseparably linked to the freedom of the Ukrainian people. We all know that this is a war of Russian expansion; it has never been a war of expansion by the European Union or by NATO.

Four years of war have taught us that peace is not a feeling, but a balance. That balance rests on two pillars: deterrence and diplomacy. Without deterrence, diplomacy is merely a request; without diplomacy, deterrence becomes a waste of strength and resources. Europe must be able to uphold both pillars together, with clarity and determination.

History will not judge us by the words we have spoken, but by the courage we show in ensuring that the light of freedom in Kyiv continues to shine through the darkness of this long night.

You see, I do not take issue with those on the left of this Chamber who, like Vladimir Putin — who celebrates the cult of Stalin by dedicating statues and airports to him — regret the fall of the Soviet Union. I take issue with those on the right of this Chamber who are not moved by the sacrifice of a people who are showing the entire world what love of homeland truly means.

Men and women, the elderly at the front and children studying underground, have been resisting for four years the invasion of an army five times larger. An army forced to empty its prisons, to recruit thousands of mercenaries, even to receive soldiers from North Korea. Yet it has not broken them. I do not know how or when this war will end. But I know that history will pay homage to the Ukrainian patriots, while it will look with contempt upon those who today turn their backs on Ukraine, on freedom, and on honour.