ATHENS – The speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Greek parliament on Thursday was “historic, deeply moving, human, political and at the same time emotional,” President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou commented afterward, in a message posted on Facebook.

Sakellaropoulou, who was present in parliament during the Ukrainian president’s speech via video link, stressed that Russia had “brutally violated every rule of international and humanitarian law” and also referred to the “tragedy of razed Mariupol” and the countless of people trapped there – including many members of the ethnic Greek community – and the “heinous war crimes and executions of civilians in Bucha and elsewhere, which haunt our conscience”.

“Active and strong support for Ukraine does not arise as a judicial-political sensitivity or strategic estimate. It arises as the highest human obligation, the greatest responsibility to this indomitable people who are giving their blood and their souls for all of us, for the free world and our universal values,” she added.

Concluding, the president said: “There is no room for excuses or inertia. Today, we are all Ukrainians.”