“You do not come out unscathed from a visit to the martyr cities of the country”, declared Sunday July 10 on franceinfo the president of the Senate Gérard Larcher, who moved on Saturday to Boutcha in Ukraine, where on April 2, journalists discovered 20 bodies of civilians killed, first indications of the atrocities and destruction committed during the Russian occupation of these northwestern suburbs of kyiv. President Larcher also delivered a speech to the Ukrainian parliament and met Volodymyr Zelensky. He says he wants “accompanying Ukraine’s progress towards the status of candidate for the European Union”.
franceinfo: Did the French and European flags displayed in front of you in the Ukrainian Parliament make an impression on you?
Gerard Larcher: Of course. Speaking before a Parliament of countries at war is the affirmation that the war has not stopped parliamentary democracy in Ukraine. I found it quite exceptional that nearly 400 MEPs were present in Parliament yesterday, coming from the four corners of Ukraine, which showed that it was the whole of Ukraine that had come together with an extremely strong determination. I saw people who were both very dignified and determined, with a form of serenity.
You also met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Would you like the country to reap the concrete fruits of its status as a candidate for the European Union without delay?
In any case, we want to support Ukraine’s progress towards the status of candidate for the European Union. This is why we proposed to the Ukrainian Parliament a protocol to accompany them because there are a lot of legislative texts or changes in institutional practices and we therefore shared a convention.
“We do not come out unscathed from visiting martyred cities”, testifies Gérard Larcher, the President of the Senate, back from kyiv, who confides to having been impressed by the “serenity” of the Ukrainian people
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— franceinfo (@franceinfo) July 10, 2022
We would like other national parliaments of the European Union to join us in this support for Ukraine, which seems extremely important to us. Our Ukrainian friends are very aware of the delay. They naturally want it to be as short as possible. The European Commission has set a number of objectives in terms of the rule of law, minorities and the fight against corruption for the end of the year. We found a Parliament ready for all these efforts, all groups combined.
You repeated this French intention to support Ukraine over the long term and including at the military level, so that the country can defend itself with equal arms with its aggressor, which is not the case today. Did you promise more French weapons to the Ukrainian president?
It’s not about promising. This decision belongs to the President of the Republic in the Constitution of the Fifth Republic. However, naturally, I will pass on to President Macron the words, which President Zelensky expressed to me, namely to fight on equal terms. It is a people who fight with great courage. President Zelensky’s concern is to preserve his soldiers as much as possible. These men need means of protection, armored vehicles that protect them. I would still like to tell franceinfo listeners that you do not come out unscathed from visiting the martyr cities of the country when you go there. When you go to meet elected officials, when you go to meet priests who have buried in mass graves, I must say that you do not come out unscathed.
Russia is accused of war crimes. Should France play a role in international investigations?
We are already doing this because the French National Gendarmerie has provided the General Prosecutor and the Ukrainians with identification support, particularly in Boutcha. In the coming days, a DNA laboratory will be made available to Ukrainians to continue on this path. Moreover, the training of the Ukrainians will start this week. I believe that these crimes cannot go unpunished.