Senator John McGahon- speech from 1 Mar 2022

Leader, the biggest fear in Russia, the biggest fear in Moscow is a free and democratic Ukraine. That is the biggest fear. Because then people in Russia will look towards Ukraine and say, well, why can't we have that when there are so many culturally close ties and close links? I have absolutely no doubt that Ukraine will be Putin's legacy, but it will not be the legacy that he intended. It will be the legacy of a stronger and a more united European Union and European continent than what it is. whatever has been known before. And the way we can make sure that Putin's foreign policy ends in total and utter failure is to, and I think, and I don't say it lightly, is to ensure we see the accession of Ukraine into the European Union as soon as possible. And the reason I say that is twofold. The European people in a number of years have shown they are standing up for European values as we know it. The European Union itself was devised so that no war would again cross the European continent. That was the reason why the European Union in the first instance was to come along. And we have 44 million people in Eastern Europe who look towards the West, who look towards democracy, who look towards freedom and want to be part of that. And I just think it would be a terrible sin for European countries to turn around and say, we're okay, guys, we don't really want you in the European Union. You foster all of our values, you agree with what we say, but we don't want you here. And I think when a sovereign nation has been attacked in the way it has by a murderous regime in Putin's Russia, that we should look at making sure if the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government want to join the EU, we should make all attempts possible to ensure that they can do that.