Speakers of parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania arrived in Kyiv on a visit

Speakers of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian parliaments arrived in Kyiv on a visit, despite fighting near the capital and the threat of shelling.

Lithuanian Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen was the first to announce this, adding a photo with colleagues from the Verkhovna Rada, EP reports.

In her speech, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen stressed that the West didn't stop Russia in 2008 and 2014, but is obliged to do so now, and not enough has been done. She also stressed that Ukrainians were fighting not only for their freedom but for the whole of Europe.

"We must continue consistent assistance, real military assistance, political, financial, humanitarian and other, to help Ukraine with protection from airstrikes. Ukraine should be granted the status of a candidate for EU membership as soon as possible," said the Speaker of the Seimas.

Speaker of the Latvian Seimas Ināra Mūrniece said that the speakers of the Baltic parliaments and the Verkhovna Rada had signed a joint declaration condemning Russian aggression and supporting Ukraine's accelerated movement towards EU membership.

Note

On March 23, Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvidas Anushauskas arrived in Kyiv in person.

On March 15, the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia, as well as the deputy prime ministers of Poland, arrived in Kyiv, the first visit to the Ukrainian capital since the start of a full-scale war. On the same day, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister arrived, but his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart took place in Lviv.