​In an article published by HotNews.ro exclusively for Romania, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzola, calls on European cities and regions to join the campaign to donate electrical generators, transformers and spare parts for electrical networks to help Ukrainians survive the coming harsh winter.

The war in Ukraine is not abating. Every day we hear of new atrocities caused by the seemingly indiscriminate bombing of civilians. We are also witnessing deliberate attacks on critical civilian infrastructure such as power grids.

Thrown out on the battlefield, the Kremlin turned its war machine against civilians to deprive them of the basics: water, electricity and heat. To exhaust them.

Such behavior is inhumane, violates all norms of international and humanitarian law and constitutes war crimes.

As a result of Russia’s continued attacks, more than half of Ukraine’s electricity network has been damaged or destroyed, leaving millions of Ukrainians without electricity. The attacks happen too quickly, and Ukrainian emergency services cannot restore power.

For this reason, the European Parliament has joined Eurocities – a network of over 200 very large cities in Europe – to donate electricity generators, transformers and spare parts for power grids to help Ukrainians survive the difficult winter ahead.

The Generators of Hope campaign is a very practical and concrete way to provide energy and clean water to a population under constant siege. To provide them with everyday services that we consider normal.

These generators will ensure the operation of the main facilities of the country, provide electricity to hospitals, schools, water supply facilities, relief centers, shelters, telephone antennas and many other facilities.

Therefore, I call on all European cities and regions to join the “Generators of Hope” campaign. We are working even harder, through our networks, with the help of all 705 MEPs and beyond, to mobilize for Ukraine.

Together we can contribute to a real improvement of the situation. An idea as simple as it is practical can be implemented quickly. There are few generators on the market and national authorities have already donated as much of their reserves as they can. But European cities and regions have untapped capacity and can be made available.

National civil protection authorities are collecting donations, which will be quickly transported to one of three centers in the EU under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Ukraine can then decide where in the country it urgently needs the equipment, and it will be delivered to its final destination.

Since we announced this, we have already acquired generators of various sizes and capacities from several cities, from Rome to Tallinn. We also get generators from regular people who want to contribute. Europeans want to help. This is solidarity in action. This is Europe in action.

We can be proud of the solidarity that the EU and its member states have shown towards Ukraine on the political, humanitarian, military and financial fronts. This was demonstrated in many ways: we gave Ukraine EU candidate status, we imposed sanctions against Russia, we sent aid to Ukraine and took in millions of Ukrainians fleeing the war, we provided much-needed military equipment and training, and aid packages worth 9 billion EUR this year and EUR 18 billion next year.

We visited Kyiv to demonstrate our friendship and devotion to the Ukrainian people. Now is the time to provide practical, tangible support to help Ukraine survive the winter.

In times of crisis, we need hope. We need friends. We need support. In Ukraine this winter, people need electricity, water and heating. We can help. We can contribute. We can do it.

Roberta Metzola, President of the European Parliament