PARLIAMENTARY NETWORK

Who we are

The U4U network already unites 350 current and former Members of Parliaments and state officials from over 30 countries that are actively working to support Ukraine at their home countries and internationally (Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Micronesia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America).

We continue to expand this informal network of the friends of Ukraine to include representatives from the democratic countries across the world, including the EU and NATO member states as well as Ukraine.

United for Ukraine is managed by the Steering Committee, which is composed of nine MPs from Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, European Parliament, and National Parliaments.

The network has been initiated by Andrius Kubilius, Member of the European Parliament, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, together with an international cross-party coalition of MEPs and members of national parliaments.

U4U Parliamentary Steering Committee

Ukraine

Oleksandr Merezhko, Member of Verkhovna Rada, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Chair of the Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the European Union

Hanna Hopko, Chair of the ANTC Organisation, former Member of the Verkhovna Rada

National Parliaments

Urmas Reinsalu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia

Pavel Fischer, Member of the Czech Senate

Andre Gattolin, Member of the French Senate

European Parliament

Witold Jan Waszczykowski, Poland, ECR, Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee

Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Germany, the Greens/ EFA, Vice- Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee

Andrius Kubilius, Lithuania, EPP, Standing Rapporteur on Russia

Mission and objectives

To respond adequately to Putin’s criminal war against Ukraine, we must tirelessly raise questions of military, political, and humanitarian support, sanctions against Russia, future reconstruction of Ukrainian infrastructure and economy, and the need to bring justice for atrocities and war crimes committed. In the months to come, it will require a lot of joint political action on EU institutional and EU member state level as well as across the democratic Western world to promote important ideas, actions, and projects, to exchange information, and to engage in broad public lobbying activities in support of Ukraine.

We must make sure our pressure is as coordinated as possible and comes from all National Parliaments and the European Parliament simultaneously. Our previous experience has proven that for such large-scale activities to be successful, it is crucial to form international cross-party coalitions with policy-makers and experts across the world. Therefore, we together with our colleagues from the Verkhovna Rada, the most active MEPs supporting Ukraine and members of National Parliaments from EU Member States, North America and other democratic countries, established the United for Ukraine (U4U) network.

Activities and priorities

From the start, Network’s activities were structured around six thematic priorities – military assistance, humanitarian support, sanctions against Russia, Ukraine’s EU integration, post-war reconstruction, and establishment of an International Tribunal. Our work included working group meetings with experts and policy-makers, advocacy visits to European capitals, public initiatives, appeals, and open letters, as well as thematic open events and discussions.

As the international situation evolves, so do our priorities. In the second half of the year, we are planning to focus on the following long-term issues:

Military assistance and systemic EU financial support to Ukraine
Ukraine’s EU integration
Post-war reconstruction
International tribunal and accountability
Sanctions; asset freeze and confiscation
Response to energy and food crises

Since its foundation on 22 March 2022, the network has organized several U4U visits to Kyiv, including the founding visit on 8 April hosted by the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. We have been actively campaigning to extend Western sanctions against Russia to include a full embargo on all energy resources, supporting a strong European Parliament resolution, publishing an open letter to Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and increasing international pressure on those EU governments that continue to resist full sanctions. We campaigned to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine without further delay. In May, U4U delegation met key decision makers in Berlin and is currently planning delegation meetings in Paris, Rome, and other European capitals.

We encourage members of parliaments to take part in this informal initiative and thus participate in thematic working groups on key priority issues, informal discussions, public events and advocacy visits.