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Georg Restle of Westdeutscher Rundfunk offers a commentary on the European Union’s responsibility amid violence in eastern Ukraine. He foregrounds the gravity of the conflict by citing UN figures: over 1,000 dead, about 3,500 injured, and around 100,000 displaced. The situation is described as war in Europe, one of the dirtiest the continent has seen in decades. People in Donetsk and Luhansk are experiencing conditions reminiscent of past wars: no electricity or water, scarce bread, and daily fear of being buried under the rubble of their homes. The demand is clear: the war must end, but not through vague pleas or one-sided appeals.
Restle argues that Western leaders who rightly call on Vladimir Putin to stop Russia’s backing of pro-Russian militias must also support the Ukrainian government. He emphasizes that the UN report is unambiguous: the Ukrainian military also terrorizes civilians, using artillery fire in residential settings and showing little regard for the distress and lives of ordinary people. This, he states, is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated by Europe.
He further asserts that Moscow is complicit in a broader cycle of violence, as it bears responsibility for a “soldateska” that abducts, tortures, and murders innocents. In light of this, Europe’s governments also bear responsibility for the actions of the Kyiv government that they helped bring to power. Restle insists that a clear message must now be directed at those in Kyiv: the terror against civilians must end, and artillery shelling of living areas must stop immediately.
If such demands are not met, Restle warns that Europe would become complicit in the killings. The conclusion draws a stark moral equation: the dead civilians in the house-to-house fighting in Donetsk or Luhansk would also be Europe’s dead, if European policy remains passive or one-sided. The transcript centers on a call for accountability and balanced pressure—holding all parties to ceasefire commitments and civilian-targeted violence, while recognizing the shared responsibility Europeans would bear if the fighting continues without decisive action.