Zabuzhko to the European Parliament: Many lives could have been saved if only the EU and the US would have woken up 8 years ago

On March 8, International Women’s Day, writer Oksana Zabuzhko addressed the European Parliament. She announced this on her Facebook page. In her speech, Oksana Zabuzhko stressed that she has always written for women and in the name of women to defend their rights and fight discrimination, but this was the first time that she must defend women’s right to life itself.

«I can not but admire with tears in my eyes my fellow countrywomen now fighting right alongside our men. They have joined the army and the civil territorial defense forces. They manage the distribution of supplies across our besieged cities, some of which, like Mariupol, stand on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe now. They give birth in bomb shelters supported and supervised by doctors online», – she noted.

 The writer stressed that women are the most vulnerable in the war.

«…If only because it’s women who remain to take care of those in need of children and the elderly. And it is precisely this living shield which Vladimir Putin now uses to break Ukraine’s heroic resistance».

She explained that the use of living shields is very typical for Putin.

In her speech, Zabuzhko recalled a case when eight years ago, after the occupation of Crimea and the start of the war in Luhansk and Donetsk regions, she compared Putin to Stalin and Hitler at a forum of European writers in Berlin – her microphone was turned off, and the speech was then censored.

«Eight years passed. So many human lives could have been saved if only the EU and the US would have woken up eight years ago to the fact that the new Hitler was ready to pick up where the previous one had left off… But I’m here to tell you, as a writer who does know something about language and how easily its power can be misused, that it is already a world war, not a conflict in Ukraine as it is still described in many western media. And that you better trust Mr. Putin when he pronounces his ambitions… Please don’t be afraid to protect the sky over those who are fighting there to free Europe from this specter of a new totalitarianism», – the writer remarked.

Zabuzhko assured that every minute of postponement of the European Union, thinking whether to close the sky or not, costs «the lives of Ukrainians, most likely, the lives of civilians, the lives of women and children».

«[Ukrainian women] are just fighting, fighting against the darkness of totalitarianism that is about to devour their country because Putin has claimed that there will be no Ukraine, there should be no Ukraine, and it means we all are denied our existence», – said the writer.

It is worth noting that Zabuzhko is neither an EU citizen nor an official, so her speech before the European Parliament is an exceptional event.

You can listen to the speech entirely in the original language and simultaneous Ukrainian translation here.

The Ministry of Culture reportedly called on the European Union to expand sanctions against Russia in the cultural and information spheres. Earlier, the European Union Commission announced that it was suspending cooperation with Russian organizations in research, science and innovation in support of Ukraine.

Leading photo: European Parliament

Translator: Vira Hanchar

Editor: Nadia Tarnawsky