Thu 19 May 2022:
Russia must not win this war, Ukraine must prevail, German Chancellor Scholz said on Thursday, pledging more military support to the country.
We must focus on supporting Ukraine “quickly and pragmatically”, he said.
Speaking in his address to German parliament, Scholz said that “Russian president continues to believe he can dictate a settlement in Ukraine, but he is wrong.”
“Putin will only be prepared to discuss peace when he understands that he cannot break Ukraine’s defenses,” he said, adding that helping a country that has been “brutally attacked” is not escalation.
He also said that EU must start work preparing a solidarity fund to aid in reconstructing Ukraine after the war.
Regarding NATO, Scholz said that they won’t be doing anything that turns the alliance into a “conflict party.”
WESTERN BALKANS AND UKRAINE’S EU BID
He also made some remarks on Western Balkans, saying that he will travel there before a meeting of the European Council takes place next month, bearing the message that the region belongs to the European Union.
The six Western Balkan countries with EU membership aspirations – Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo – have been engaged in years-long reform process, Scholz told lawmakers in Berlin on Wednesday.
“Honouring our commitments to them is not just a question of our credibility. Today more than ever, their integration is also in our strategic interests,” he said, pointing to the influence of “external powers” in the region, including Russia.
On Ukraine’s bid to join the EU, Scholz said that the process cannot be sped up despite the country’s invasion by Russia.
“There are no shortcuts on the way to the EU,” Scholz said, adding that an exception for Ukraine would be unfair to the Western Balkan countries also seeking membership. “The accession process is not a matter of a few months or years,” he said.
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