President Putin has decided on Russia's illegal annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. This annexation follows sham referenda and constitutes a dangerous and irresponsible escalation. It is designed as a step to intensify the nuclear threat against the rest of the world.
The European Union unequivocally rejects and condemns these illegal annexations. It will never recognize them, just as it did not recognize the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Once again, the Kremlin is trampling on the UN Charter and the international order.
To the Ukrainian people, I want to say this: the European Union is and will remain resolutely on your side. You are defending the territorial integrity of your country, you are defending the future of your children. And you are defending our common universal values of freedom and dignity.
I also want to send a message to the citizens of the European Union. Ukraine and Ukrainians are under attack, and this attack is also an aggression against our fundamental freedoms and democratic principles. Russia is firing missiles at Ukrainians and Russia has launched an “energy missile” at Europe, targeting the heart of our economic and social system.
The damage is severe. Energy is expensive. Every household in Europe is affected by soaring energy bills and supermarket receipts. And this will have a lasting impact on all of us.
That is why a new Energy Union must be developed now, with a real common strategy. Because there is no alternative, if we want to guarantee security of supply, affordable prices, and the climate transition. Today, all of us, we must understand that we have entered a new world, where many of our points of reference have been turned upside down. We must face this situation with clarity.
Russia has decided on a massive mobilisation to increase its war effort tenfold. We Europeans must also mobilise. Not for war, but rather to preserve peace, to protect our security and to guarantee the future of our children. Citizens, companies, political and social leaders: all of us, everyone has a responsibility to assume, a role to play.
We are strong. We will stick together. The European Union is taking action. The European Union protects and does so with all the necessary means. We will mobilise together. And no one will be left behind. Thank you.
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In Ukraine, a brutal, bloody war caused by Russian aggression continues, claiming lives, destroying homes, demolishing infrastructure, and inflicting incalculable harm on the environment and surrounding natural ecosystems. Ukraine, more than anyone else in this world, strives for peace, as we bear the daily brutality of this Russian-Ukrainian war. We are at the forefront of the struggle for the right to life, freedom, and justice. Ukraine seeks a just peace that will lay a solid foundation for a stable future for Europe and the World, and the only way of achieving this is to implement President Volodymyr Zelensky's Peace Formula (the Ukrainian Peace Formula).
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On the eve of a large-scale flood approaching Baku, a disturbing incident occurred in the village of Buzovna, where a Lada Priora car fell into the ground, literally collapsing the road beneath it. The driver miraculously remained unharmed but vowed to seek justice, promising to file an official complaint with the prosecutor’s office against Azersu OJSC, the state-owned water supply and sewerage company, often associated with deeply rooted corruption.
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In a bit of historic irony, powerful oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili has managed to inspire rare unity across Georgia’s cacophonous political scene twice in his life. His money and influence forged the broad-based consolidation of opposition forces that brought him to power in 2012, and now, 12 years and three electoral cycles later, a similar pattern of opposition convergence could send him packing.
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Russian authorities and pro-Kremlin influencers have been spreading false information about alleged Reporters Without Borders (RSF) research into Nazi tendencies within the Ukrainian military, which was featured in a viral video falsely attributed to the BBC. RSF exposes the inner workings of a disinformation campaign designed to justify President Vladimir Putin's war narrative.
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