Portugal will reiterate "its full support" to Ukraine

Prime Minister António Costa will reiterate to the Ukrainian President Portugal’s support "in the war Ukraine is waging", as it "would be a tragedy for the world if the outcome of this war were Russia’s Victory".

"It would be a tragedy for the world if the outcome of this war were a Victory of those who stand against international law, who do not uphold international law, territories’ right to integrity, peoples’ right to sovereignty, each nation’s right to self-determination. It is fundamental to ensure this. This is absolutely clear", claimed the Prime Minister.

António Costa was speaking on his arrival at the European Council in Brussels for a summit attended by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the Prime Minister, this will be an opportunity to "take stock of the military situation" and how the Union can "continue supporting Ukraine in this fight against such a powerful enemy in a savage war".

"Since the start of the war we have sought to support, in the way we can and as the different requests come in. Obviously, the first and most pressing request was for humanitarian aid and secondly came material support, as well as assistance in keeping warm in this harsh winter. As for military support, we have been giving all the assistance we have been asked and which we have available and can offer", he said.

The Prime Minister also recalled that the country "is in condition to deliver three Leopard tanks next March that had been requested under the European coalition that is being set up to jointly supply a relevant set of equipment".

António Costa stated that it would be of interest to listen to Zelensky, "concretely, the type of assistance that is currently most important for Ukraine": 

"It is worth recalling that in addition to the strictly material assistance, and that we talk a lot about military supplies, there are other types of assistance in the field of training, where we are committed, the technical support we have been offering and the preparation of the process to join the EU, as well as indirect assistance we’ve offered" in taking in refugees, he added.

The Prime Minister further noted that it is important "to also discuss the perspectives on how to build peace" under the terms and conditions "that only Ukraine is fit to decide".

"Ukraine is the injured party and, as such, it has the right to define the conditions, the time and the terms under which peace is negotiated. Everyone’s ambition is for that peace to be possible. That must be the goal", he said, underlining that "it was Russia who triggered the war on 4 February", so "it must be Russia who stops the war, Russia must lose this war and from then on we can build peace".

"The EU must prepare for new enlargement"

Regarding Ukraine joining the European Union, António Costa claimed that "the worst thing" we can do is frustrate "the great expectations" created:

"It is increasingly urgent for the European Union to reflect not so much on whether Ukraine meets the criteria for joining, rather if the EU is getting suitably prepared for this, because the worst thing we can do is create great expectations on Ukraine’s European future that would lead to frustration in the long run", he noted.

The Prime Minister stressed that "whereas it is essential for Ukraine to meet the requirements for joining there is another step that is as important, if not more so, which is for the EU to prepared for what it means to have a country as large as Ukraine".

"Surely, this enlargement will necessarily imply enlargement for a series of other countries, namely in the Western Balkans. And, as such, for everything to run smoothly and not end in frustration for the applicant countries, this implies the EU must be prepared from the perspective of its institutional architecture and budgetary capabilities, so these processes are successful and not a collective frustration for all of us", he declared.