On Thursday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke live to an Austrian audience for the first time since the start of the war. “I want to thank the people who understand who is responsible for this war,” Zelenskyy said at the 4Gamechangers festival. He also addressed Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), who were present at the Marx Halle in Vienna.
After decades of discussions about what life should look like in the future, the changes are now speaking for themselves for the first time, explains Zelenskyj. “Everyone sees what needs to be done urgently,” he said, referring to the threats Russia posed to his country and the world. In particular, the Ukrainian president spoke of an impending famine, which in turn could trigger a “migration tsunami”. Also mentioned were disinformation campaigns and those about Russian oil and gas deliveries to Europe.
“Ukrainian game-changing is that we give them a chance to do what should have been done a long time ago,” Zelenskyy said, referring to the festival’s theme. He advocated strengthening European unity, supporting quality media and overcoming dependence on Russian energy resources.
request for further punitive measures
“I am grateful to your state for the support,” he said. However, a joint victory over Russia is impossible without sanctions. He called on Austria to redouble its commitment to a seventh package of EU sanctions against Russia. When asked, the Ukrainian head of state defended his country’s demands for western arms supplies: “Russia does not want to engage in dialogue and only understands the language of weapons. We only use these weapons on the territory that Russia wants to occupy,” he said.
“We in Austria know that not only Ukraine’s freedom, but also our freedom is being defended,” said Federal President Van der Bellen. It would be remiss not to help a country under attack in this way, which would be “failure to help,” he said.
Van der Bellen: ‘Make normal life possible’
Van der Bellen explained that Austria could provide medical assistance to Ukraine, supply non-military Günter and take in refugees, who should be able to lead “normal lives” during the war. He explained that the war in Ukraine was also a reason for Austria to think about improving military equipment. Because Austria “hardly has a well-equipped federal army of its own”.
Finally, Van der Bellen accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of not waging a “normal war”. Everything is reminiscent of the colonial wars of the 19th century. “He wants to rebuild the Russian Empire, including Ukraine, but does not recognize that Ukraine has completely changed in the past 20 years and wants to join the EU one day,” he explained.
Nehammer: “habituation effect of terror”
The president’s appearance shows that he is passionate about fighting for his homeland, Chancellor Nehammer noted after Selenskyj’s connection was severed. He emotionally recalled a phone call shortly after the start of the war: “I don’t know how long I will live,” Selenskyj told him at the time. Now it is a matter of constantly focusing on the suffering that is happening in Ukraine. Because after more than 100 days of war, according to Nehammer, a ‘habitation effect of terror’ developed.
Source: Krone
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