On Wednesday 4 October, the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, warned that “war fatigue” could take hold in the European Union and weaken its support for Ukraine, which has been under military attack from Russia since February 2022.
“Ukraine’s security is our own security. [...] I therefore call on everyone to continue providing support by all possible means. If Ukraine fails, so will we. And this failure will cost us even more”, he declared during an address in the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. In his view, if Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he compared to the “devil”, wins the war in Ukraine, he will not stop there. And accepting peace on the aggressor’s terms would be tantamount to accepting Ukraine’s capitulation and a denial of the EU’s fundamental values.
“Russia must be defeated in Ukraine”, said the former Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee. He also described it as “imperative to strengthen the European pillar of NATO” and to enhance interoperability of military equipment between the Allies.
The Czech President underlined the benefits of the accession of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to the EU, almost 20 years ago, in terms of political and economic transformation for these countries, but also in strengthening the security of the continent. This is why he saw enlargement to include the countries of the Western Balkans as well as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia as “an investment in the security and resilience of Europe”.
Convinced that the EU had already “wasted too much time” on the issue of enlargement, Mr Pavel called on the European Council to take “bold decisions” by the end of 2023. In his view, the debates on the future of the EU and enlargement are “linked” and must be conducted “in parallel”. In this respect, the Czech President called for a competitive Union, more united and efficient, more flexible and proactive, and more reactive, without going into detail.
Finally, Mr Pavel called for an international alliance of democracies to combat global “threats” such as “climate change and disinformation”.
To see Mr Pavel’s speech, got to https://aeur.eu/f/8w2 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)