Ukrainian parliamentarian asks Norway for help in joining NATO
– I am asking for your support so that we can become a member of Nato. For us it will be a matter of survival. A question of whether we are going to win or notsays Kira Rudik to NTB.
She is party leader of the liberal Ukrainian party Golos and elected to the Ukrainian parliament. On Saturday, she was a guest at the national meeting of the sister party Venstre.
– What is the most important thing that the Ukrainian people need now?
– Protection of the airspace. We will have the airspace closed. Without it, it will be very difficult to survive. When a rocket comes through the air, there is nothing you can do. It will just be a hole in the ground where you and your loved ones live, says Rudik.
Ukraine asked early for help to close its airspace after Russia invaded the country in February. However, the NATO countries made it clear early on that this was out of the question, because in principle it would make them part of the war.
For the same reason, Ukrainian NATO membership will also oblige the other NATO countries to actively defend Ukraine.
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Thanks Norway
Rudik arrived in Norway on Saturday morning and had only been in the country for half a day when she took the podium in front of Venstre’s national meeting. There she thanked, among other things, for Norwegian support during the war.
– The support you give is very valuable to us. The weapons you give us. The energy support. The sanctions against Russia that you have imposed, which are very strong. You have actually set a good example for other countries, says Rudik to NTB.
She is also deeply grateful that Norway has accepted 30,000 Ukrainian refugees.
Ahead of the visit to Norway, Rudik has been traveling for weeks in Africa, among other places, in an attempt to persuade countries to support Ukraine at the UN, which on Wednesday voted to criticize Russia. On Sunday, she will return to Ukraine.
– The price is our life
One of the first foreign colleagues to call the Ukrainian politician after the war broke out was Venstre leader Guri Melby. The two know each other through a European alliance for liberal parties.
– She called on day one and said “I’m going to knock on all the doors and ask for what you need”. At that time, we wanted help to close the airspace and to keep the borders open so that people can actually flee, says Rudik.
This is how their condition explains the Ukrainian situation now:
– On behalf of the Ukrainian people, I want to say that: In this war, we value what we believe in. On our values. Democratic values. It used to be just words. Freedom, the rule of law, the opportunity to create your own future. And right now it became so real. Our price for that is our lives. We are grateful that you do not hold back on your efforts either.