The bishops of the European Union have rallied in support of the Ukrainian people and have urged European institutions to do the same. Source: Crux.
In a March 4 statement, the presidency of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) lamented the “instability and uncertainty” of the current geopolitical landscape. Amid this context, they expressed their “closeness and heartfelt solidarity with the people of Ukraine, who have been suffering from Russia’s unjustifiable full-scale invasion for more than three years”.
They also expressed their solidarity with all those who have died, been maimed or wounded, or who have had to flee their homes, while they voiced gratitude to EU leaders for providing “unprecedented” humanitarian, political, financial and military aid to Ukraine.
“Ukraine’s struggle for peace and the defence of its territorial integrity is not only a fight for its own future. Its outcome will also be decisive for the fate of the entire European continent and of a free and democratic world,” the bishops said.
Amid what they said are “deepening geopolitical complexities and the unpredictability of actions taken by some members of the international community”, they urged EU leaders and member states “to remain united in their commitment to supporting Ukraine and its people”.
The reference to unpredictable actions appears to be an indirect reference to the fractious meeting that happened in the White House on February 28 between US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
As tensions continue to escalate in the fallout from the meeting, Mr Trump announced on March 3 that the US would be freezing all military aid to Ukraine, while EU leaders have proposed plans to significantly ramp theirs up.
In their statement, COMECE’s leadership called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 a “blatant violation of international law”.
At the same time, they reiterated the message from bishops in the US that negotiation is the only path to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, adding that any “credible and sincere dialogue” ought to be supported by “continued strong transatlantic and global solidarity and it must involve the victim of the aggression: Ukraine”.
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Europe’s bishops rally behind Ukraine after explosive Trump meeting (By Elise Ann Allen, Crux)
