Ukraine deserves to be in the EU! The war against his country was four days old when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj submitted his country’s application for EU membership. And thus made clear from the start what his compatriots were fighting for: to belong to the European family! “Ukraine into the EU – Defend Europe’s Freedom!” was therefore the motto of the rally we organised together with Pulse of Europe and the Young European Federalists on 06 March 2022 on Düsseldorf’s Burgplatz. 1500 participants followed the speeches of the Mayor of Düsseldorf Stephan Keller, the Ukrainian Consul General Iryna Shum, the MEPs Moritz Körner (FDP) and Alexandra Geese (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) and of course many representatives of Ukrainian associations. We are Europe! Chair Jens Baganz warned:
Ukraine deserves to be in the EU! Let’s not leave Ukraine’s application for membership to the Brussels bureaucrats – that takes years! Let’s think about what we can already give the Ukrainians today! They need our support now!
The contribution of the association “Free Russia NRW” was also followed with special attention. Its chairman Yuri Nikitin left no doubt that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a serious crime. This crime will also have devastating consequences for the future of Russia itself.
“Stop the war”, “Hands off Ukraine!”, “F*ck Putin!”, “Putin = Hitler” – many placards testified to the unbridled anger of the demonstrators that such a war is being waged again in Europe in the 21st century.
The rally was the first joint event of the three large Düsseldorf pro-Europe organisations, which have been intensively discussing for several months how to join forces in their future work.