17 Apr, 2024
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February, liberals across Europe have taken actions to support Ukrainians during this crisis. Not only have they pushed for harsher sanctions for Putin’s regime, to send military equipment to the Ukrainian Army or to speed-up the acceptance of Ukraine as an EU candidate country, but ALDE Party and its members have also taken upon themselves to make sure to collect first necessity products and donations to assist the Ukrainian people and are working to facilitate the access to EU territory for Ukrainian refugees.
On 1 March, the ALDE Party launched a successful donations campaign. The proceeds of the campaign will be doubled by the Party and sent to the Red Cross. You can still participate here.
Last Friday, ALDE Party acting Co-President Senator Timmy Dooley, who traveled to Ukraine over the weekend, organised a solidary morning coffee at a Hotel in Clare, Ireland, collecting 7,643 euros in donations. Currently, he is gathering volunteers to help Ukrainian refugees settle in Clare.
“Thank you so much to all those who dropped into the coffee morning in aid of the Ukrainian humanitarian appeal this morning. €7,643.75 collected for the Red Cross who are doing amazing work in the region,” thanked Dooley.
Liberal leaders, such as Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sophie Wilmès, ALDE Party Vice-President Daniel Berg (Momentum Mozgalom, Hungary), and Petras Auštrevičius MEP (Lietuvos Respublikos liberalų sąjūdis, Lithuania), among others, travelled to the borders between the EU and Ukraine to learn first-hand about the situation there and how to help.
“Frontier between Ukraine and Poland. Guided by our team from the Consulate constantly present to assist Belgians. Witness of the reality of Ukrainian refugees that reports cannot describe. Support the Ukrainian people and the Polish authorities that are managing the emergency,” described Wilmès.
Frontière Ukraine 🇺🇦 Pologne 🇵🇱 . Guidés par notre équipe consulaire présente en permanence pour aider les Belges. Témoins aussi de la réalité des réfugiés que les rapports ne peuvent pas retranscrire. Soutien au peuple ukrainien et aux autorités polonaises qui gèrent l’urgence. pic.twitter.com/5QgAFxSras
— Sophie Wilmès (@Sophie_Wilmes) March 7, 2022
“To see the real situation and to send a message of solidarity, I am visiting the Polish-Ukrainian frontier, which is overrun by Ukrainians running away from war, with a few members of the European Parliament,”explained Auštrevičius.
You can access his testimony here.
“A lot of you have messaged me privately, so here is a summary of our trip to Ukraine, along with a request to you. On Friday afternoon, Katka Cseh and I left Budapest accompanied by two colleagues, and traveled to the Hungarian - Ukrainian border for a three-day fact-finding mission to the crisis zone…” narrated Berg in a long post that you can read below.
As you can see in the picture on top of this article, many of our member parties have organised campaigns to collect either donations or first necessity products to send to Ukraine to assist those fighting and those waiting to cross the borders to safety. They are also pushing national parliaments to facilitate the entry of Ukrainian refugees to their countries.
You can stay up to date on what liberals are doing to help Ukraine and contribute to our efforts on our website’s exclusive section on the Ukrainian crisis here.
Photo credit: Momentum Mozgalom
