The unprovoked invasion of Russia is an unprecedented act of war. Vladimir Putin is denying Ukrainians the right to exist. He denies the foundations on which the coexistence of nations established after the Second World War is based.
Russia trampled the Charter of the United Nations, whose Article 2 states: “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.[1]”
Ukrainians are fighting today not only for their homeland, but on behalf of all of us – the people who do not agree to live in a world in which dictate and naked power decide how we are to live.
This is why we call on the Polish government and the international community to:
- Provide real help to Ukraine. The invaded state should receive economic support, defensive and offensive weapons. Dictators with a mania for grandeur are very unlikely to stop what they have already started doing.
- Declare a real economic war on Moscow. Russia must be cut off from the resources to wage war. Projects like Nord Stream 2 should be shut down once and for all.
- Significantly strengthen the military forces of the countries in the NATO’s eastern flank, on which Russian aggression may spill over.
- Help and accept war refugees from Ukraine. As a state and as an international community, we must be prepared for far-reaching solidarity and massive aid.
- Radically accelerate the green transformation of Western economies, so as to become independent of the raw materials imported from authoritarian regions of the world.
The armed invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russia is a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, who have the full right to self-determination. We owe democratic Ukraine the possibility of future integration with Western structures after the end of the armed conflict.
We should be aware that we are witnessing the beginning of a major clash between democracy and authoritarianism. This is a global systemic clash, as Vladimir Putin clearly wishes to return to dividing the world along the lines of the Yalta agreement.
Let us not give up. Ukrainian brothers and sisters, we stand with you.
