While some continue to resist Ukraine’s European integration and obstruct the process with all their might, the fact can be considered as practically realized. Otherwise, how can you explain that for the first time in history, a Ukrainian – Marta Barandiy will participate in the European Parliament elections.
The woman has been living in Belgium since 2004 when after studying at Lviv University she interned in the European Parliament. Later she gained another degree – now in Germany. The language barrier was not a hindrance, as Marta is fluent in seven languages – English, German, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, French, and Dutch.
Transition stage
Since 2014, Barandiy has become an active public figure who defended the position of Ukraine and Ukrainians. They say that she integrated into Europe even before all of Ukraine did, and this is true: Marta had time to work in several large European companies and law firms. With the onset of a full-scale invasion, this format has gained particular relevance.
But now has come a new stage for Ukrainians – it’s time to transition from civic to political activity to ensure the development and even existence of Ukraine. That’s why Marta Barandiy has made a difficult decision – to run for the European Parliament to bring her ideas into the Euro community.
What this body can do
To understand how important it is for Ukrainians to get into the European Parliament, it is worth noting: the elections here rank second in the world in terms of the number of voters, conceding only to India. The reason is that citizens of 28 EU member countries vote. A certain number of deputies proportional to the population is assigned to each of them.
The largest number of MEPs are representatives from Germany, France and Italy. Ukrainian candidate Marta Barandiy will be participating from Flanders (Belgium). The total number of elected representatives will be 720.
Should we expect changes
The last European Parliament elections took place in 2019. Even then, euro-sceptics, which are plentiful in this body, tried to incite resistance to EU ideas. Essentially, their position is clearly or indirectly pro-Russian. For example, blocking the European Parliament is an attempt to divert the EU’s attention from Ukraine’s problems. It’s worth noting that in the European Parliament there are many politicians and parties that had close relations with Putin until the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Now they have simply moved to a more covert plane, or even nothing has changed:
- For example, the French “National Revival” promotes the annexation of Crimea as “completely legal”. A year ago they stated that Russia’s victory in the current war would be a disaster, but Ukraine’s victory would mean World War Three.
- The Austrian “Freedom Party” sent observers to the Crimean referendum, after which it demanded that sanctions against Russia be lifted. During Zelensky’s speech in parliament, representatives of this party demonstratively left the hall.
- From Germany, the “Alternative for Germany” holds the same position, consistently opposing support for Kiev, criticising the supply of weapons to Ukraine, accusing the government of stirring up war and so on. What’s dangerous is that the “Alternative for Germany” is overtly conducting more and more pro-Russian rhetoric.
- In Italy, the “Salvini League” “AdN” constantly calls for easing sanctions against Russia. The vice-prime-minister Salvini himself is referred to as “a friend of the Kremlin”. He still hasn’t been able to recognise that Russia is responsible for the war.
And the danger only grows. Back in 2022, when the European Parliament recognized Russia as a terrorist state, 58 euro deputies voted “against”. Some of them are still broadcasting Russian propaganda. That’s why it’s critically important to start working on increasing the number of pro-Ukrainian and even Ukrainian representatives in the European Parliament steadily.
This is the work that Marta Barandiy is focused on, understanding well that the first steps are always the hardest. But when has that ever stopped brave and dedicated people?
