Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a “historic” speech to the British House of Commons on Tuesday at 12 pm ET.
According to a news release from the House of Commons on Monday, Zelensky will address members of parliament via video connection – “the first time they have done so in the Chamber,” while regular parliamentary activity will be postponed.
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Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, agreed, saying, “Every parliamentarian wants to hear directly from the president, who will be speaking to us live from Ukraine, so this is an important opportunity for the House.”
“Thanks again to our incredible staff for working at pace to make this historic address possible,” Hoyle said in a statement.
MPs will be able to view the address on screens mounted above either side of the Chamber overnight, with over 500 headsets allowing members to hear a simultaneous translation in English, according to the House of Commons.
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There will be no questions and answers at the end of the speech, it was added.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated on Monday that the UK will not relax visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees. The Conservative Party leader’s remarks came as the United Nations estimated that more than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s incursion.
Johnson stated that the UK was a generous country, but that it needed to keep track of who was coming in.
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“We are a very, very generous country. What we want though is control and we want to be able to check. I think it’s sensible given what’s going on in Ukraine to make sure that we have some basic ability to check who is coming in,” Johnson told reporters.