Ukrainians are 'dying for European values… we want them in': EU's Sefcovic

"Absolutely astonished": that's the reaction of European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic to the Russian military attack on a Ukrainian nuclear power plant. The Zaporizhzhia plant is Europe's largest and the Commissioner told FRANCE 24 that "the whole international community considers this to be absolutely irresponsible" by Vladimir Putin's forces – whom he accuses of engaging in an "absolutely senseless war". 

Asked about the Ukrainian request for a Western-enforced no-fly zone, which NATO has ruled out, Sefcovic said: "We are looking for all other ways to help Ukrainians with weapons which would help them to boost their air defence."

After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the EU to allow his country to quickly accede to the bloc, Commissioner Sefcovic told FRANCE 24: "It's quite clear that [Ukrainians] are indeed dying for European values, they are dying for being part of Europe […] We want them in. I think now it's time for strong political messaging. We can discuss the mechanics later, but what the people of Ukraine need right now is encouragement and any kind of help we can provide them with."

Meanwhile, as more than a million Ukrainians spread out across the European Union as refugees, Sefcovic stated that the European Commission is ready to assist, "with shelters, food, medicine and financial assistance".

The Commissioner also pushed back on accusations of racial discrimination at the Ukraine-EU borders, saying that women and children were given priority, before other people including foreign students were permitted to take transport to the EU.

"There is no discrimination […] Ukrainians with biometric passports are [covered for travel into the EU] under the visa-free regime, but we also adopted a temporary protection system for those who had to flee their apartments from one hour to another and didn't have all their documents."