Ukrainian President, Volodymir Zelenski, calls on Spanish companies to stop operating in Russia, and on the government to support more sanctions and arms shipments. In a video conference from Kiev, he has referred to the German bombing of Guernica and compared it with the current situation in Ukraine, in particular with destroyed cities such as Mariupol. “We are in April 2022, but it seems like April 1937, when the world learned about the attack on the city of Guernica,” he said in an institutional act before a packed Congress of Members.
“I know that many Spanish companies have stopped operating in Russia, and I want to thank those companies and all the Spanish people”, he said before deputies, senators, members of the Government, ambassadors and representatives of the Ukrainian people. He reproached some Spanish companies for remaining in the country, and asked them to cease their activity, such as “Porcelanosa, Maxam and Sercobe” and others that “you know better”. “How can we allow Russian banks to make profits while they are torturing people? How can we allow European companies to make profits while they are destroying my country?”, Zelenski asked in his speech.
The speech comes after the worldwide outrage provoked by the massacre discovered in the town of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kiev, after the withdrawal of Russian troops from this city. This morning, the government announced the expulsion of some twenty diplomats as a result of these crimes. In the face of the Russian aggression, Zelenski has asked Spain to help them with “more weapons and sanctions”. “You can help us: with the weapons you send us or by supporting more sanctions in the future”, he added.
“Imagine mothers in Ukraine writing on the backs of their children the names and contact numbers of some people close to them in case the occupiers kill their parents, so that they have some chance,” Zelenski continued. “I know that for Spain it is very important to defend democracy and peace on the European continent. But how can we achieve this if Russia sends all its resources to destroy everything?
“Although the message of how Russia is behaving is similar in its interventions, in each country it mentions those companies that maintain commercial relations with the Russian Federation to get the media and popular pressure to stop it and prevent the war from being financed in this way”, says Nacho Martín, political scientist and vice-president of the Association of Political Communication, analyses for El Periódico de España, a newspaper belonging to Prensa Ibérica, the same group as this newspaper.
Political communication expert Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí explains to this newspaper how Zelenski has tried to strike an emotional chord with the audience. “His scars of the past are our wounds of today, that is what the Ukrainian president has come to say”.
The Chamber was adapted to the event. Behind the president, three flags: European, Spanish and Ukrainian. The usual seats had been removed and a bench was placed so that the senators as well as deputies could enter. Ambassadors from the EU and NATO states were in the guest tribune. here were also temporarily displaced Ukrainians and members of the Ukrainian community in Spain.
The speech began with a greeting and welcome from the President of the Congress, Meritxell Batet. It concluded with a few words from the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. Spain will continue to support Ukraine in “everything” it can. It will support the “toughest” sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime, and will provide “humanitarian aid and financial assistance” to Kiev. It will also continue to send arms, reports Juanma Romero. And it will push for the country to join the European Union. “Europe’s hope is today placed in Ukraine.”
The intervention of the President of the Government was a novelty. The presidents or prime ministers of the countries of which Zelenski spoke about earlier did not make any statement after his speech. Moncloa claims that this was at the request of the Ukrainian embassy. The meeting follows a unanimous request from all the groups in Congress.
There are discrepancies within the Government over how to engage with Ukraine. The minority party has expressed its opposition to sending arms to the country.
Zelenski refers to battles and historical episodes
Zelenski devotes much of his time to promoting the Ukrainian cause abroad. He has appeared before the European Union, in the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy, but also at the Grammy music awards gala.
His speeches repeat a similar structure. First he thanks the EU for its help, and then he makes a specific demand: the request for a no-fly zone to prevent Russian bombing, something the West rejects because it could constitute a casus belli. He then punctuations his appearances with references to the most painful episodes in the history of each country he addresses, adapted to the current Ukrainian reality. In this way, he tries to appeal to the sensitivities of the audience.
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