Thread by @Halla_aho

1/10 I arrived at Kyiv on Friday afternoon to participate at the ceremonies of the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, the man-made famine that claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainians in 1932-33.

2/10 I started the day with a bilateral meeting with the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Mr Stefanchuk. The Finnish Ambassador was also present.

3/10 The topics discussed included the aid to Ukraine, the EU and Nato integration, the Global South, and the Russian hybrid operation on the Finnish border.

4/10 I had the pleasure to hand to Mr Stefanchuk a joint declaration of the leaders of our parliamentary groups and the majority of our MPs, in which the Holodomor is recognized as a genocide against the Ukrainian nation.

5/10 Mr Stefanchuk was grateful for the gesture and asked to pass his greetings to the leaders and the parliamentary friendship group on whose initiative the statement was prepared.

6/10 Courtesy of the Ambassador, I visited the Finnish embassy in which I worked 25 years ago and heard touching accounts from the local employees, many of whom the war had personally touched in one way or another.

Two of them were my old colleagues!

7/10 At night, Russia launched a massive drone attack against Kyiv. 71 out of 75 drones were shot down. There were some injuries from debris. I and advisor Saarinen sat in the bomb shelter from 2am to 9am, listening to explosions and anti-aircraft fire.

8/10 In the morning I placed a candle on the Holodomor memorial together with my fellow Speakers from Belgium, Czech Republic, Ireland and Poland.

9/10 After that, we had a warm talk with President Zelensky and took a group photo.

10/10 Finally, I had the great honor to address the Plenary of the Verkhovna Rada. In my speech I said the events of the February 24 last year stirred in us painful memories of our own historical experiences.

Taltiointi löytyy täältä, alkaa ajassa 00.38.20.