Brussels, 3 February 2022
Polish ECR MEP Adam Bielan on the Ukrainian crisis: “We need unity, both on the Ukrainian side, but also unity within the European Union.”
Today, at the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament (AFET), the report by the Chairman of the AFET Committee and Chair of the SEDE Subcommittee on the recent ad hoc visit of the AFET-SEDE Committee to Ukraine was presented. An eight-member high-level delegation travelled to Kiev from January 30 to February 2 to gather information on the current crisis which was also part of a large-scale diplomatic effort to de-escalate the situation and avoid the catastrophic consequences of a possible war in Ukraine.
ECR MEP Adam Bielan, who was part of the delegation, took the floor during the discussion, emphasising how the trip took place at an extremely important moment.
“According to various analysts, a larger scale Russian aggression could occur as early as mid-February, so our mission took place at the last possible moment,” he said. He added that this mission was a great logistical challenge, because MEPs not only visited Kiev, but also Zaporizhia and Mariupol.
Bielan explained that the mission had two goals: “On one hand, we wanted to show the solidarity of the European nations and the European Union with Ukraine at this difficult time, which turned out to be a success”, adding that the delegation was met with significant media attention, in addition to the presence of many important Ukrainian politicians. “It shows how important and needed this mission was,” underlined Bielan.
The second goal, according to the MEP, was to get as much information as possible directly from Ukrainian interlocutors and officials. “The contrast between the security situation we observe, also through analytical data from the secret services, and the enormous calmness that we observed both during the meetings and on the streets was striking. There were no signs of any major mobilisation.”
Bielan continued: “The Ukrainian side reassured us, saying that the appropriate military equipment is already deployed. The Ukrainian army is also in a state of increased readiness all the time due to the conflict in the east of Ukraine.”
Adam Bielan said that the Ukrainians, first of all, appealed for unity in the matter of sanctions and called for their partial introduction before any possible Russian aggression. Moreover, the MEP added, the topic of Nord Stream 2 appeared frequently, along with requests for greater pressure to be put on the German government to withdraw its policy of support for the project, as well as calls for more assistance from the European Union.
The issue of arms supplies, which are being withheld due to German policy, were also raised. “During the meeting at the Ministry of National Defense, we were shown the absurdities of this policy. The supply of weapons from Estonia, which has been there since the times of the GDR, is blocked. Meanwhile, under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Germany has blocked the supply of equipment needed, for example, to knock down drones that arrive from Russia and which have killed several dozen people in recent weeks,” he explained. Adam Bielan also expressed his hope for greater unity in the European Parliament in convincing some governments of the European Union to change this policy.
“We certainly need unity, both on the Ukrainian side, but also unity within the European Union, and pressure on those governments that have so far resisted a tougher policy towards Putin,” concluded Bielan.
Source – ECR (via e-Mail)