Skopje, 27 April 2022 (MIA) — Showing unequivocal and resolute support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people, North Macedonia’s Parliament on March 3 adopted a declaration condemning the military attacks on Ukraine and co-signed resolutions demanding Russia immediately withdraw its forces, said Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi in his address to the Congress of Local and Regional Councils chaired by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to an official press release, Parliament Speaker Xhaferi also recalled that North Macedonia supported the decision to suspend Russia from the Council of Europe. “I will personally advocate for the adoption of decisions to help and support Ukraine as soon as possible,” Xhaferi said. “The fact that I am in Ukraine puts even more weight on my activities as Speaker of Parliament, which is the seat of democracy and an institution in which key state decisions are made. “Additionally, we have joined all European Union restrictions and sanctions against the Russian Federation, even though we are not a member of the EU.” Xhaferi pointed out that the Russian military aggression highlighted the importance of EU enlargement for the security, stability and democratic consolidation of Europe. “Thanks to all the freedom fighters in Ukraine who in these war conditions made sure we arrived in Ukraine safely and who shared their bread with us,” Xhaferi said. “Although I find it difficult to look you in the eye, I wish you strength and persistence until Ukraine and the Ukrainian people are free," he added. He offered his deepest condolences to the children, parents, women and men who had lost their loved ones. “I am angry at humanity for allowing us to be silent witnesses of the kind of war we believed was part of history. I am shaken by the number of graves that extend beyond what the eye can see, and I saw only some of them in Bucha and Irpin. I am furious the world does not have a voice strong enough to stop this mindless invasion. In honor of the lives that were lost, we are committed to helping you and listening to you carefully as you rebuild what was destroyed,” Xhaferi said. North Macedonia’s Parliament Speaker arrived in Ukraine by train via Poland in the early morning at the invitation of Ukraine’s Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk. mr/