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Ursula von der Leyen
Photo: Yves Herman / REUTERS
During her speech on the state of the European Union in the European Parliament, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen praised the solidarity of the EU with Ukraine.
"We woke up at the end of February and were shocked by what we saw and heard," von der Leyen said.
Since then, an entire continent has stood up in solidarity.
The Europeans would not have hesitated to do the right thing.
"We have brought Europe's inner strength back to the surface," von der Leyen said.
»Putin will fail, Europe will win.«
"There's a lot at stake here"
Nevertheless, the near future will not be easy: "Neither for families who have difficulty making ends meet, nor for companies that have to make difficult decisions about the future." Europe and the whole world,” said von der Leyen.
It's about the economy, values and the future.
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“Today courage has a name.
This name is called Ukraine.
Courage has been given a face and this face is that of the Ukrainian women and men who oppose the Russian war of aggression,” von der Leyen said.
"I don't want to leave any doubt that the sanctions will last," said the German.
Moscow is responsible for the fact that the Russian economy is falling behind.
"This is the price for Putin's trail of death and destruction." The EU's punitive measures against Russia are the harshest sanctions the world has ever seen.
"We have to get away from Russia"
"We have to get away from Russia," von der Leyen said.
The gas markets have changed dramatically.
Consumers need to be able to take advantage of the lower costs of renewable energy, von der Leyen said.
In order to relieve consumers, excessive profits from energy companies in the EU are to be skimmed off and redistributed in the future.
In addition, there should be a legislative proposal against the high energy prices, which would affect both producers of renewable electricity and gas and oil companies.
"Our proposal will bring more than 140 billion euros for the member states to cushion the emergency immediately," she said.
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