Finnish Parliament speaker addresses Ukrainian Parliament in Ukrainian

Jussi Halla-aho, Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, has delivered his speech in the Ukrainian Parliament entirely in Ukrainian.

Source: video on social media; European Pravda

Details: Halla-aho addressed the parliament on Saturday (25 November), along with speakers from a total of six EU countries and the president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. The Finnish official delivered his speech entirely in Ukrainian.

Jussi Halla-Aho commenced by pointing out that Finland faced the very same kind of imperial Soviet aggression in 1939 as Ukraine does today, and Finns were vividly reminded of this experience on 24 February 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The official expressed his frustration with the fact that Russia has not changed since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the USSR.

"Both then and today, it [Russia – ed.] does not respect international law or its obligations. It does not cherish the lives of its people or those of others. It believes that it has the right to veto its neighbours' choices, the right to veto their very existence. Russia respects and understands force. Russian imperialism must be responded to with force," Halla-aho stressed.

The speaker noted that Ukraine's heroic resistance has given Finland the courage to act, most likely referring to their decision to join NATO and provide military assistance to Ukraine. 

The official mentioned that Finland has provided 20 military aid packages to Ukraine and will keep on providing support for as long as necessary.

Who among world political leaders can make a speech in so perfect #Ukrainian? May be just a few. Here is the today's video of the Speaker of the Parliament of #Finland Jussi Halla-aho addressing the #Ukraine's Parliament in Ukrainian on the 90th anniversary of the Russian crime -… pic.twitter.com/eKM4bTfthG

— Viktor Kovalenko (@MrKovalenko) November 25, 2023

Halla-aho also raised the issue of the Holodomor [a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine that lasted from 1932 to 1933 and claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainians – ed.]. The speaker explained that the Finnish parliament never issues declarations on historical events for formal reasons and does not even have a procedure for doing so. Still, last week, the heads of factions, together with the majority of lawmakers, signed a joint resolution stating that they see grounds to consider the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people by the Soviet authorities.

During the speech, Ukrainian lawmakers repeatedly broke into standing ovations.

Background:

• Jussi Halla-aho is a member of the far-right True Finns party. In the summer, he was elected as the party's candidate in the Finnish presidential election to be held in late January. He is currently in 5th place in the ratings.
• Russian propagandists remember Halla-aho for ordering an inscription on a Ukrainian projectile for a donation.

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