We must be strong and united – Zelenskyy on Ukraine's Day of Dignity
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has congratulated Ukrainians on Dignity and Freedom Day and urged them to be united, as only united people are strong and free.
Source: Zelenskyy’s video address
Quote: "We are strong. We must be strong. After all, people believe only in the strong, and only the strong shape the future. Only the strong can be united. United to become free. Free to be with dignity. For the sake of new times. When the central squares of our cities will receive new and everlasting names. In honour of the heroes. In honour of the liberators. Mariupol, Berdiansk and Melitopol. In honour of the liberation of Donbas and Crimea.
In honour of the Ukrainian reunification within its borders. When years and centuries from now, history books will refer to the period of independence since 1991 as uninterrupted."
Details: The president said Ukraine has been doing its best every year since the Revolution of Dignity to see "the star of Ukraine shine in the star circle on the EU flag".
Zelenskyy added that whenever someone attempts to deprive Ukrainians of something, the resistance becomes greater and stronger: "When the Maidan barricades turn into the trenches of Donbas, and then into resistance along the entire contact line – north, south and east."
The president emphasised that a new chapter in our history is currently unfolding: "It is up to our generation to determine the direction it will take. What history books will write about us. What our descendants will say about us."
At the same time, the president warned of the threat of political opportunists in government.
Quote: "When you fight for offices and not for people, when your ego becomes more important than your own country, when you don't fight until the end, and when the prefix 'in exile' appears next to the status of leader, head, or hetman.
When the foe manages to split the internal unity. When we quarrel and then get tired and despair, and then we survive in new periods of captivity and statelessness.
When the enemy manages to disrupt international support and solidarity. When the civilised world begins to seek compromises with terrorists and make concessions to tyrants, then we all lose. Ukraine. Europe. The world. We lose, naively assuming that there can be a draw with them. A draw is impossible".
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