2022 State of the Union Address by President von der Leyen

INTRODUCTION

Madam President,
Honourable Members,
My fellow Europeans,

Never before has this Parliament debated the State of our Union with war raging on European soil.

We all remember that fateful morning in late February.

Europeans from across our Union woke up dismayed by what they saw. Shaken by the resurgent and ruthless face of evil. Haunted by the sounds of sirens and the sheer brutality of war.

But from that very moment, a whole continent has risen in solidarity.

At the border crossings where refugees found shelter. In our streets, filled with Ukrainian flags. In the classrooms, where Ukrainian children made new friends.

From that very moment, Europeans neither hid nor hesitated.

They found the courage to do the right thing.

And from that very moment, our Union as a whole has risen to the occasion.

Fifteen years ago, during the financial crisis, it took us years to find lasting solutions.

A decade later, when the global pandemic hit, it took us only weeks.

But this year, as soon as Russian troops crossed the border into Ukraine, our response was united, determined and immediate.

And we should be proud of that.

We have brought Europe’s inner strength back to the surface.

And we will need all of this strength. The months ahead of us will not be easy. Be it for families who are struggling to make ends meet, or businesses, who are facing tough choices about their future.

Let us be very clear: much is at stake here. Not just for Ukraine – but for all of Europe and the world at large.

And we will be tested. Tested by those who want to exploit any kind of divisions between us.

This is not only a war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.

This is a war on our energy, a war on our economy, a war on our values and a war on our future.

This is about autocracy against democracy.

And I stand here with the conviction that with courage and solidarity, Putin will fail and Europe will prevail.

---

THE COURAGE TO STAND WITH OUR HEROES

Honorable Members,

Today – courage has a name, and that name is Ukraine.

Courage has a face, the face of Ukrainian men and women who are standing up to Russian aggression.

I remember a moment in the early weeks of the invasion. When the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, gathered the parents of Ukrainian children killed by the invader.

Hundreds of families for whom the war will never end, and for whom life will never go back to what it was before.

We saw the first Lady leading a silent crowd of heartbroken mothers and fathers, and hang small bells in the trees, one for every fallen child.

And now the bells will ring forever in the wind, and forever, the innocent victims of this war will live in our memory.

And she is here with us today!

Dear Olena, it took immense courage to resist Putin’s cruelty.

But you found that courage.

And a nation of heroes has risen.

Today, Ukraine stands strong because an entire country has fought street by street, home by home.

Ukraine stands strong because people like your husband, President Zelenskyy, have stayed in Kyiv to lead the resistance – together with you and your children, dear First Lady.

You have given courage to the whole nation. And we have seen in the last days the bravery of Ukrainians paying off.

You have given voice to your people on the global stage.

And you have given hope to all of us.

So today we want to thank you and all Ukrainians.

Glory to a country of European heroes. Slava Ukraini!

Europe’s solidarity with Ukraine will remain unshakeable.

From day one, Europe has stood at Ukraine’s side. With weapons. With funds. With hospitality for refugees. And with the toughest sanctions the world has ever seen.

Russia’s financial sector is on life-support. We have cut off three quarters of Russia’s banking sector from international markets.

Nearly one thousand international companies have left the country.

The production of cars fell by three-quarters compared to last year. Aeroflot is grounding planes because there are no more spare parts. The Russian military is taking chips from dishwashers and refrigerators to fix their military hardware, because they ran out of semiconductors. Russia’s industry is in tatters.

It is the Kremlin that has put Russia’s economy on the path to oblivion.

This is the price for Putin’s trail of death and destruction.

And I want to make it very clear, the sanctions are here to stay.

This is the time for us to show resolve, not appeasement.

The same is true for our financial support to Ukraine.

So far Team Europe have provided more than 19 billion euros in financial assistance.

And this is without counting our military support.

And we are in it for the long haul.

Ukraine’s reconstruction will require massive resources. For instance, Russian strikes have damaged or destroyed more than 70 schools.

Half a million Ukrainian children have started their school year in the European Union. But many others inside Ukraine simply don’t have a classroom to go to.

So today I am announcing that we will work with the First Lady to support the rehabilitation of damaged Ukrainian schools. And that is why we will provide 100 million euros. Because the future of Ukraine begins in its schools.

We will not only support with finance – but also empower Ukraine to make the most of its potential.

Ukraine is already a rising tech hub and home to many innovative young companies.

So I want us to mobilise the full power of our Single Market to help accelerate growth and create opportunities.

In March, we connected successfully Ukraine to our electricity grid. It was initially planned for 2024. But we did it within two weeks. And today, Ukraine is exporting electricity to us. I want to significantly expand this mutually beneficial trade.

We have already suspended import duties on Ukrainian exports to the EU.

We will bring Ukraine into our European free roaming area.

Our solidarity lanes are a big success.

And building on all that, the Commission will work with Ukraine to ensure seamless access to the Single Market. And vice-versa.

Our Single Market is one of Europe’s greatest success stories. Now it’s time to make it a success story for our Ukrainian friends, too.

And this is why I am going to Kyiv today, to discuss this in detail with President Zelenskyy.

Honourable Members,

One lesson from this war is we should have listened to those who know Putin.

To Anna Politkovskaya and all the Russian journalists who exposed the crimes, and paid the ultimate price.

To our friends in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and to the opposition in Belarus.

We should have listened to the voices inside our Union – in Poland, in the Baltics, and all across Central and Eastern Europe.

They have been telling us for years that Putin would not stop.

And they acted accordingly.

---

Since the end of World War 2, we have pursued the promise of democracy and the rule of law.

And the nations of the world have built together an international system promoting peace and security, justice and economic progress.

Today this is the very target of Russian missiles.

What we saw in the streets of Bucha, in the scorched fields of grain, and now at the gates of Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant – is not only a violation of international rules.

It’s a deliberate attempt to discard them.

This watershed moment in global politics calls for a rethink of our foreign policy agenda.

This is the time to invest in the power of democracies.

This work begins with the core group of our like-minded partners: our friends in every single democratic nation on this globe.

We see the world with the same eyes. And we should mobilise our collective power to shape global goods.

We should strive to expand this core of democracies. The most immediate way to do so is to deepen our ties and strengthen democracies on our continent.

This starts with those countries that are already on the path to our Union.

We must be at their side every step of the way.

Because the path towards strong democracies and the path towards our Union are one and the same.

So I want the people of the Western Balkans, of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to know:

You are part of our family, your future is in our Union, and our Union is not complete without you!

---

CONCLUSION

Honourable Members,

They say that light shines brightest in the dark.

And that was certainly true for the women and the children fleeing Russia’s bombs.

They fled a country at war, filled with sadness for what they had left behind, and fear for what may lie ahead.

But they were received with open arms. By many citizens like Magdalena and Agnieszka. Two selfless young women from Poland.

As soon as they heard about trains full of refugees, they rushed to the Warsaw Central Station.

They started to organise.

They set up a tent to assist as many people as possible.

They reached out to supermarket chains for food, and to local authorities to organise buses to hospitality centres.

In a matter of days, they gathered 3000 volunteers, to welcome refugees 24/7.

Honourable Members,

Magdalena and Agnieszka are here with us today.

Please join me in applauding them and each and every European who opened their hearts and their homes.

Their story is about everything our Union stands and strives for.

It is a story of heart, character and solidarity.

They showed everyone what Europeans can achieve when we rally around a common mission.

This is Europe’s spirit.

A Union that stands strong together.

A Union that prevails together.

Long live Europe.