Glory to the brave hearts!

On Wednesday, October 19, in the afternoon, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, announced in the plenary meeting hall of this institution in Strasbourg, that the laureate of the 2022 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was the brave people of Ukraine, represented by its President, its elected leaders, and civil society.

On behalf of the members of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola said: 

“This award is for those Ukrainians fighting on the ground. For those who have been forced to flee. For those who have lost relatives and friends. For all those who stand up and fight for what they believe in. I know that the brave people of Ukraine will not give up and neither will we.” And on her Twitter she briefly summed up: "They are standing up for what they believe in. Fighting for our values. Protecting democracy, freedom and the rule of law. Risking their lives for us. And today they are proud winners of the Sakharov Prize of the European Parliament. There is no one more deserving. Congratulations to the brave people of Ukraine!".

"This award is for those Ukrainians who are fighting on their land.  For those who were forced to flee.  For those who have lost relatives and friends.  For all those who stand up and fight for what they believe in.  I know that the brave people of Ukraine will not give up, and neither will we." And she summed it up briefly on her Twitter: "They stand up for what they believe in.  They fight for our values.  They defend democracy, freedom and the rule of law.  They risk their lives for us.  And today they were awarded the Sakharov Prize of the European Parliament. There is no one more worthy. Congratulations to the brave people of Ukraine!".

Both in the speech and in the justification of the award, the word "brave" was heard, which I, and probably many others, immediately associated with the title of the wonderful film about the struggle for freedom and national dignity "Brave Heart".  And at the same time, another discourse appeared through this word, in which the words "Glory to Ukraine!" are answered: "Glory to the heroes!". Of course, this is the discourse of the UIA, which has just turned eighty years old, picked up by the army of Ukraine - the best sons and daughters of the Ukrainian people, a nation that (I quote the EP press release once again) "not only fights to protect its homes, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity  , but also defends freedom, democracy, the rule of law and European values ​​on the battlefields against a brutal regime that seeks to undermine our democracy, weaken and divide our Union."

This is a very important symbolic recognition. Old Europe has seen a lot in its time.  However, the capital of reputation and values ​​will continue to be highly valued here, despite the cancerous tumor of corruption and cynicism spread among its elites by Moscow's billionaire Chekists and their impostors Berlusconi, Orban and Sharia.  The latter were very active last week, as this year, alongside the Ukrainian people, a commentator of "Russia Today", a "fighter against America", a publisher of a huge amount of confidential information about the activities of US state institutions, leaked to him by the Russian special services, entered the finals of the Strasbourg award, rapist and psychopath Julian Assange.  Various Moscow structures spent enormous sums on his promotion and attempts to rescue him from a well-deserved and comfortable American prison.  However, fortunately, it was not possible to deceive the public.

"Old Europe has seen a lot in its time.  However, the capital of reputation and values ​​will continue to be highly valued here, despite the cancerous tumor of corruption and cynicism spread among its elites by Moscow's billionaire Chekists and their impostors Berlusconi, Orban and Shariy".

Another important aspect is who will represent the people of Ukraine at the award ceremony on December 14 in Strasbourg.  In the documents of the European Parliament, it is specified that in addition to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, representatives of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the founder of the evacuation medical unit "Angels of Taira" Yulia Paevska, a lawyer and human rights defender, the head of the organization "Center for Civil Liberties", which was awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize  Oleksandr Matviychuk, the Civil Resistance Movement "Yellow Ribbon" and Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, a Ukrainian city currently occupied by the Russian Nazis.

"Modernity is often unfair, history is always fair - over time, everything always falls into place and is called by its proper name!".

In 2018, when the aggression of Putin's occupiers against Ukraine was already ongoing, and Crimea was annexed by the invaders, the Sakharov Prize was awarded to Ukrainian Oleg Sentsov, who was imprisoned at that time.  Now he is fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and then in the letter sent to Strasbourg he put all the dots above the "i": "It is possible to live the full life of a bloody ruler until old age, tirelessly uttering a stream of false words that your people will supposedly admire, and even you  world leaders will shake hands, not wanting to quarrel with you, but after death your name will be cursed. (…) Modernity is often unfair, history is always fair - in time everything always falls into its place and is called by its name. And someone falls down,  on a pile of garbage, under the curse of the freed people along with the fragments of monuments to himself, and someone who was previously persecuted and despised by almost everyone, on the contrary, after his death occupies a worthy place in world history, and streets and ships begin to be named after him,  awards. For example, like this one. Andriy Sakharov is definitely a person worth looking up to, (…) he raised the bar of education and talent, intelligence and upbringing, dignity and humanism very high  ".

Knowing the outstanding talent of some of my compatriots for devaluing and ignoring the good things we have today in comparison with what we could or should have, I want to emphasize once again: the great structure of our victory consists of millions of bricks of efforts and achievements  brave hearts

About the author: Andriy Pavlyshyn is a historian, translator, member of the Ukrainian PEN, lecturer at the Ukrainian Catholic University, Espreso columnist.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.