Roberta METSOLA, EP President, participates to the G7 speakers conference in Tokyo (Japan). The G7 Speakers' Meeting provides an opportunity for the presiding officers of the parliaments of the G7 countries and of the European Parliament to gather together to frankly discuss parliamentary responses to international issues and concerns over parliamentary systems in their countries. Extracts from the arrivals to the meeting and from the photo session.

statement

EU - Japan (T)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

G7 Summit (T)

Japan

Tokyo

president's agenda

Official visit by Roberta METSOLA, EP President to Tokyo (Japan) - G7 speakers conference: arrivals, photo session and statements

Exerior shot of the conference center where the G7 speakers conference is held, Tokyo (1 shot)

Arrival and photo session of Roberta METSOLA, EP President at the G7 speakers conference (5 shots)

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Russia's prolonged warmongering and contempt towards the rules based international order is simply unacceptable and we are very privileged to have Ruslan Stefanchuk here amongst us today and I want to commend the bravery, the stamina and the courage of the Ukrainian people in standing up to a Russian aggressor. They are standing up for our values of freedom and justice and you are truly an inspiration to us all.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, The entire globe knows of the horrendous atrocities that are being committed by Russian or Russian affiliated forces in Ukraine. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are being injured and killed. They are hitting homes, health care and educational facilities, and they are committing war crimes, summary executions and sexual violence. They are looting cultural sites, creating environmental disasters, and unlawfully deporting children from occupied parts of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. Russia has also attempted to intimidate the world scene by weaponizing energy, food, migration and information.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And the European Union, throughout all this, has not stood idle in terms of military support. To date, the EU has developed and delivered more than €4.6 billion of military aid to Ukraine. We have trained over 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers. We are providing 1 million rounds of ammunition, weaponry, tanks and fighter jets. And I must share with you that this was not something that we have ever been able to do before, both in terms of political decision making but also delivering of those decisions in terms of financial support to the EU.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, Its member states and its financial institutions have secured over €72 billion in grants and loans to support Ukraine's economy. And we are currently working on a bill that will secure €50 billion for Ukraine to recover, to reconstruct and to modernize over the next four years. In terms of humanitarian aid, and the EU is helping Ukraine face the dire humanitarian consequences of Russian attacks on Ukraine with €485 million. And this is not to speak of the fact that our own people are opening their hearts and their hopes continuously to welcome Ukrainian refugees across the entire European Union in their millions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, This is to demonstrate that we have never stood with more confidence in our resolve to act and defend our rules based world order together with the G7 partners. And Speaker Hoyle is right. The principles matter to our people, to our democracies and to the world order. Now the challenge is going forward is to ensure that war fatigue does not latch onto our societies, and that is our commitment. And our responsibility to match Ukrainian resilience even when it becomes more difficult, and that is our role as Parliament with our members coming from different parts of countries, and in  my case different parts of the European Union, as we seek to convert exactly what Putin wants, that fatigue and that looking away. We must also reaffirm our commitment to a real peace.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, We all get asked what is the meaning of peace? The answer has to be that peace is one that respects liberty, justice, and that is based on the Ukrainian peace plan. And despite the difficulties, however, I am convinced that Ukraine's future is as of a member of the European Union. That's our commitment. Our future will be shared. And the picture I have on my desk says it best: Ukraine is Europe because we are family and I am very glad that we are all here today.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, President of the European Parliament, And perhaps, also to go into more detail in the afternoon, on energy and how we can, let's say, move away finally for what we didn't do for too many years, be united in our forceful condemnation of Putin's illegal breach of the international world order and support of Ukraine's territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders. So the message to EU-UK, to Ruslan and to the whole of the Ukrainian people and your government is that we stand with you and we will keep standing with you. Thank you.