Roberta Metsola: "Russia represents an existential threat to our Union"

Geopolitics and Russia's aggression against Ukraine is at the center of the EU's concerns, whose future is largely determined by the outcome of this war that has been raging for two years at the gates of the community bloc. "Russia represents an existential threat to our Union, our values ​​and our freedom, and if we do not stand firm and support Ukraine, everything we have inherited may collapse." This was warned this Friday by the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, during her speech at the International Forum of El Mundo under the title Europe, the decisive moment, organized by the Unidad Editorial newspaper on the occasion of its 35th anniversary.

In the opinion of Metsola, who yesterday and today has made an official visit to Spain with a busy agenda of meetings, "we cannot take democracy for granted, nor the freedoms that we have achieved in Europe. In Europe we still remember what it means to live without freedom and with this expansionist invasion of Russia and with the war in Ukraine, a war against our values, against our way of life, we have to remember what is at stake."

The president of the European Chamber thus intensifies the alerts about what a possible victory of Russia in Ukraine would imply for the Old Continent, at a time also when the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has once again threatened with his nuclear arsenal if Western countries They send troops to Ukraine.

Metsola, who upon arrival at the event was received by the executive president of Unidad Editorial, Marco Pompignoli; Laura Múgica, general director and advisor of Unidad Editorial; Sergio Cobos, general director of Advertising of the group, and Joaquín Manso, director of El Mundo, highlighted the unity shown by Europe in support of Ukraine from the beginning of the aggression and assured that " "We are going to continue doing it as long as necessary," a direct message to the Kremlin, which adds to those launched in recent weeks and days by other European leaders, including the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who advocated for send more weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, financing that military effort with the assets that the EU has frozen to Russia since the beginning of the invasion.

In this context, the President of the European Parliament emphasized that the experiences and events of recent years have taught Europe that "our collective security is the most important thing", so "we must establish a security framework that does not replicate what is already exists, but rather complements it", because although "Europe will always fight for peace, we know that peace without freedom, without dignity, without justice, is not a true peace", he noted during the event, which was also attended by of prominent representatives from the world of politics and diplomacy, such as Alberto Núñez Feijóo, president of the PP; the MEPs Pilar del Castillo, Antonio López Istúriz, Dolors Montserrat and Adrián Vázquez, or the ambassadors to Spain from Italy, Ukraine and Poland.

During her speech, Roberta Metsola also referred to the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. After referring to the "horrors" of the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, the president of the European Parliament advocated "the two-state solution"; that is, a solution that gives future perspective to the people of Palestine and security to Israel, and asked to stop "the humanitarian catastrophe of Gaza" because "our heart must be big enough for all the victims", while demanding "the return of the hostages" and that "Hamas stops acting with impunity.

The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, had the agricultural sector very present in her speech, which has been demonstrating in Europe for weeks, largely due to the demands that the EU's ambitious environmental agenda entails. In this sense, Metsola defended that "the Green Deal is important for Europe", but clarified that "it must incorporate all industries and all sectors to function", specifying that "it must offer real incentives and a safety net for the sector." agricultural too", because "people must have confidence in the process, if not, it will not work," he insisted.

The president of the European Parliament warned that if answers are not given to their demands and needs "they will not vote" in the European elections and recognized that "bureaucracy distances citizens from the EU", precisely one of the main complaints of the agricultural sector. , which describes the administrative burden it supports as "suffocating."

The European Commission has already announced measures to simplify the requirements for collecting CAP aid; has temporarily frozen the fallow obligation and has withdrawn its ambitious project to reduce the use of pesticides. The 27 consider that these measures are going in the right direction, but have asked Brussels for more ambition in its concessions to the sector.

Metsola invited young people to participate in the next European elections, because "voting in elections means freedom, peace and hope. In Europe there are movements that seek to destroy more than to build and I want my colleagues to present young people with an alternative" to avoid that this generation "returns to populist extremes."