10 years of Euromaidan. How European values determined the path of Ukraine

Ukrayinska Pravda publishes essays by the finalists of the European Union in Ukraine project "10 years of Euromaidan. How European values determined the path of Ukraine"

I was twelve when I came to Kyiv from Simferopol where only two days earlier "the armed men without insignia" appeared. Maidan Nezalezhnosti was covered with black tar and smoke. Yet, there was something sacredly symbolic in this whole situation, even to my childish imagination. Little did I realize then, that at that very time from this black ash and soot the phoenix of Ukrainian freedom and liberty was being reborn.

It's 2024, we have been living in the realities of a full-scale war with Russia for two years now. This is no longer news to anyone: Ukraine is Europe, and this can be heard both in the rhetoric of Ukrainian and Western statesmen. This would not have been possible without the events of 2013-14, which radically changed the course of Ukraine's history. Back then, the nation decided to finally cut the threads that had been used by Russia, as if it were a puppeteer, to control the most strategically important decisions in Ukraine's foreign and domestic policy. In turn, Russia's attack in 2022 only catalyzed the desire of the Ukrainian people on becoming a full-fledged part of the European community.

While it is commonly believed that the Maidan Uprising played its main function in the context of a root-and-branch change in the external orientation of Ukraine, in fact, its mission was much broader. People took to the streets of their cities not only for European integration, but for the restoration of the functioning of the state that had been captured by the criminals and Russian agents, for the values that we tend to call "European" but which, in fact, are logically determined guidelines of any democratic state whose main goal is the welfare of its population.

It should be emphasized that Ukrainian people did not choose European values simply as a counterbalance to Russian ones, they finally chose liberty in its broader sense, determined by the principles of democracy, freedom of speech and prosperity. And it is a great achievement of the European Union member states that its values come as close as possible to the ideal of civilizational development, justice and good neighborliness.

Yet, guaranteeing the rule of law, respect for human dignity and rights, equality, democracy and other values set out in Article 2 of the Lisbon Treaty and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is the prerogative of a strong, progressive state. But is this what we are urgently aiming for when the state is teetering on the edge of its existence as a sovereign unit? When fierce fighting begins in the East, and armed men in unmarked uniforms appear in Crimea and seize the main administrative buildings? At that time, the people of Ukraine were faced with another main goal: to defend their independence once again. 

Maidan participants joined the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation) forces on a volunteer basis, supporters of Maidan in Crimea (thousands of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians) continued their resistance to the occupation. A strong and independent state became their ultimate aim. Indeed, only such a state is able to restore its territorial integrity, otherwise negotiations on joining western international institutions and alliances are fictitious.

Ten years have passed since the Maidan events. Unfortunately, many of the hopes of Ukrainians have not been realized – we are still not in the EU, we have not managed to regain de facto control over our internationally recognized territory, and the blossom of our nation is dying. But the main goal has been achieved – as a sovereign and independent state, we have survived. Between bread and freedom, the people chose freedom, which means that they will have both freedom and bread grown by themselves and not taken away by anyone. It is as a sovereign state that we will be able to restore our borders, and this is the main merit of the Maidan Uprising.

Speaking about my experience (as a representative of the Crimean Tatar people), I remember how on December 1, 2013, a demonstration of the Euromaidan-Crimea movement against the dispersal of students in Kyiv broke out in front of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Many representatives of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people who are now having to work from Kyiv, as well as numerous human rights activists were there. Then armed clashes, seizure of administrative buildings, occupation, pseudo-referendum, exile, struggle. 

Crimean Tatars have an old saying: "Halqa birlik – quşqa qanat" ("A nation's unity is like a bird's wings"). And even if we are currently forced to be divided, we continue to fight for an independent and sovereign Ukraine both at the front and in the international arena. Yet we are able to do so solely for the reason of having chosen a titanically difficult but right path to freedom in 2014.