Ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko emphasized that at the beginning of the war, our country helped Ukraine a lot, and thanked the Romanians for their attitude towards Ukrainians who fled the path of the war, and asked them to continue to support the country occupied by Russia.

“Tragedies like this war always act as a litmus test. This tragedy, this war is also a test. Who is your friend? Who is your enemy? Who doesn’t matter? I want to say clearly that from the first days of the war, Romania and the Romanian people were with us. They stood on the side of Ukraine. Remember that in the early stages of the war, few countries are able to act and offer the kind of help that Romania did,” ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko said in an interview with Digi24, reports news.ro.

The ex-prime minister of Ukraine, while visiting Romania, wanted to thank the Romanians and the leadership of Bucharest for their attitude towards Ukrainians and emphasized that this will remain in history. She was asked what has changed in relations between Romania and Ukraine since the start of the war, considering that there were a number of disputes between the countries before.

• “I would like to note that more than 3.5 million citizens of Ukraine crossed the border with Romania to stay or move further to Western Europe. Doors were opened, procedures were simplified to allow those fleeing war to find refuge.
• Currently, approximately 100,000 citizens of Ukraine live here, and the Romanian state, the Romanians, offered them help. They needed I would like to thank all Romanian citizens from the bottom of my heart, your leaders and the Romanian government for not hesitating for a second to support Ukraine, to help us in this difficult period of our history.
• This remains in the memory of our generation and future generations,” said Yulia Tymoshenko.

Finally, she said she wanted to call and send a message to all Romanians, asking them to continue to support Ukraine.

• “Ukraine never intended to start a war against any nation. Ukraine did not seek to seize the territories of other states. At the beginning of the war, we did not have such a strong army as now, it must be admitted that we were not sufficiently prepared. Ukrainians simply want a normal life, to teach and raise children, to take care of the elderly.
• We did not give another country a reason to attack us with such brutality as Russia did. Today, every day of this long war, thousands of Ukrainians suffer, hundreds are killed, many women are raped, children are deported, families are torn apart, and our homes are burned.
• And it happened before our eyes, where we are, in Europe. And I want to ask the Romanian people, please continue to support us, support Ukraine, support Ukrainian families, Ukrainian children, Ukrainian women, support Ukrainians to win this war.”

Who is Yulia Tymoshenko?

Yulia Tymoshenko, 62, now a member of parliament, served as prime minister of Ukraine for two terms, most recently between 2007 and 2010. She was the first and only woman to currently head the government in Kyiv and was seen as a reformer. , one of the leaders of the Orange Revolution, which led to the leadership of the country for the first time by a pro-Western president and government.

During her term in office, she experienced tensions with Moscow, particularly over gas supplies, and was jailed after pro-Russian leadership returned to power in Kyiv.

Yulia Tymoshenko is currently the leader of a political party that is actually in opposition to the current leadership of Ukraine. Answering the question whether internal political struggle is still important in wartime, she told what the first days of the war were like for the political class in Kyiv.

• “On the first day of the war, when we heard explosions very close to our houses, from the apartments where we live, a few hours later we met with the president and the leaders of the parliamentary parties and told each other that we should stop politics. . As long as we have a war, there is no politics. And we shook hands and promised that from that day on we have a war to win and we are a team: the Ukrainian team.
• We must leave all differences, different opinions, ambitions until the end of the war.
• We consider this the main prerequisite, our unity, the prerequisite for our victory. And unity is connected not only with our agreement at the political level, between political leaders and the country’s president. Unity is also related to unity in Ukraine, between people,” she added.

The ex-prime minister showed that traditionally Ukraine was perceived as a country divided between East and West, but now it has become a symbol and example of the very unity of the pro-Western world.

“Traditionally, Ukraine is perceived as a country divided into eastern and western parts. This is no longer the case. Unity goes even beyond Ukraine, unity in Europe, between Europe and the United States, transatlantic unity has become important. Therefore, it is not only the main symbol, but also an indispensable condition for our joint victory. And these are not just words, we have to preserve and strengthen it with all our might,” Yulia Tymoshenko said in an interview with Digi24.

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