Vladimir Putin wants to destroy the European way of life, said the head of the Parliamentary Group of the European People’s Party (EPP) Manfred Weber, speaking at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, describing the Russian president as a “war criminal”.

“For us, as the EPP, it was clear from the beginning: we stand by our Ukrainian friends who seek, experience and defend the European way of life. Putin wants to destroy him. It’s the opposite. She hates him. His judiciary supports repression, censorship, war crimes, totalitarianism. Putin is a war criminal and must lose this war,” Mr. Weber noted.

At the same time he emphasized that this war shook Europe to its core, yet it showed itself to be stronger and more united than ever. He also referred to Ukrainian President Zelensky, who was in the European Parliament in Brussels last week.

“President Zelensky, his army and over 40 million compatriots stand united. They show us what it means to follow the European way of life. Our Ukrainian friends show us every day what it means to be European. They show us that, if people have a choice, they choose democracy over despotism, the rule of law over the rule of the few, and freedom over tyranny. And this is called the European way of life”, pointed out the head of the EPP’s KO.

He added that Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke about the “European way of life” about 20 times in his speech while, as Mr Weber said, the Socialists and the Greens were against the Commission’s portfolio to promote and protect the European way. of life.

“As the EPP we fought for this and today it is (…) probably the motivation of our Ukrainian friends”, Manfred Weber underlined.