Today ten years ago the Maidan Revolution of Dignity started. Today the revolution is still going on. The stakes are even higher than in 2013. The war of Russia against Ukraine made clear that the Revolution of Dignity is a European or world revolution. It means standing up for the right to the rule of law, democracy, a decent state and an open economy for all. It means standing up against totalitarianism, terror and authoritarianism. Today it is cristal clear that there is no future for Ukraine, Europe and the world with the Russia of Putin and those who support him. With a Russia which doesn’t come to terms with its suicidal Gulag history. The Revolution of Dignity has become a war for dignity for all of us.
I remember very wel the determination and resilience when I was at Maidan ten years ago. After crossing Kyiv with a couple of friends where everything seems business as usual, I suddenly saw Maidan appear. All these people, tents, barricades, city hall… My first thought was ‘This can’t be stopped’. I couldn’t foresee that the aftermath would be that bloody and tragic. I never thought that this revolution would end in the war that the Russians started on February 24. A war in which Ukrainians have to pay with their lives for the right to a dignified existence.
Today I visited Unbroken in Lviv and saw what price Ukrainian men women and children pay for the right to a dignified life. I also saw what I saw in 2013: the unbreakable resilience and the will to build a nation where everyone can live a dignified life. My friend Orysya once sighed ‘Why did the West forgot what it costs to build a nation? What it costs to claim the right to live in freedom’? Her sigh is right and for me an incentive to ensure that Ukraine wil not be forgotten. Their dignity is our dignity.
