Patriotism of future in Europe

I will start with a thesis that is quite self-evident in Ukraine, although, unfortunately, it is less present in discussions in other European countries: the patriotism of the future in Europe is being formed on the frontlines of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

This statement has both a front and a reverse side, i.e., positive and negative content. Positive, because Ukrainian soldiers, volunteers, rescuers, medics, and in fact all Ukrainians are patriots of Europe. On the same level as they are patriots of their state and nation.

Because Ukraine is Europe.

We are proud to emphasize that the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred are the first Europeans to give their lives for the flag of Ukraine and the flag of the European Union in the hot winter of 2014. Just as today Ukrainian soldiers are shedding blood for Ukraine and a united Europe.

These are not empty words, because we are well aware that without Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO, Ukrainians will never feel safe. Russia will always encroach on its freedom and its land, trying to capture and destroy Ukraine. This is an axiom, regardless of whether Russia was white, red, Putin's Russia, or whether it will be something else in the future.

“Ukraine is not Russia” is the title of a book by one of the Ukrainian presidents who tried to find a way to the minds of Russians and their leadership. He did not find a way, because for 400 years, war has been coming from Russia to Ukrainians when they claim the right to their own identity and independence, as well as the right to belong to Europe.

The reverse, negative side of the thesis about the patriotism of the future that is emerging in Ukraine is Putin's Russia's undisguised goal of destroying Europe itself. As the antithesis of what Russian imperialists consider to be the foundation of “Russianness,” that is, its spirit, purpose, and global mission of “Holy Rus.”

Putin presented all this cocktail of Slavophilia, Russophilia, and Russian Bolshevism to his people as the basis for building a new empire. And after two and a half years of a large-scale war against Ukraine, it is clear that the “Russian world” is very confidently held in the minds of Russians. And there is no other way to change this than the victory of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the battlefield.

Putin claims that he had to attack Ukraine because Ukraine is “anti-Russia,” when in fact he claims that Russia is the negation of Ukraine and Europe. So, either Russia prevails or Ukraine does, with no middle ground.

Putin has put up the whole zoo of retrograde ideas to unite his agents, supporters, and those who generally dislike the modern democratic West. Quite successfully, if we look at the election results in various European countries, particularly in the two eastern regions of Germany.

The Putinverstehers are holding firm, despite the fact that Russia is the opposite of conservative values.

Freedom has been replaced by enslavement, dignity by humiliation, and justice by an oligarchic system that is transforming into a hereditary pseudo-aristocracy.

Service to Christ by the largest church has been replaced by service to the state and its dictator, as well as the proclamation of a genocidal war against a neighboring state as “sacred.”

The promotion of “traditional values” means 1 million abortions every year and a radical drop in the already extremely low rates of attendance at Orthodox churches.

If you want to know the value of Europe, then look into the looking glass that Putin's Russia has become - this is the value basis of the formula of Ukrainian resilience in resisting Russian aggression.

Does this declaration mean that we do not understand the problems faced by the peoples of the EU member states? Of course not, because Ukrainians understand a lot, and millions of their countrymen have already acclimatized to Europe.

Ukrainians simply have a different experience - they are returning to the European family from a world that is sought by those who deny the value of a united Europe. And they firmly testify that this world is terrible.

Another fundamental question is whether there is a Ukrainian model of patriotism that can serve as a model for the whole of Europe, especially in the context of deepening EU integration processes.

I will start by stating that the life-and-death situation in which Ukrainians find themselves is testing the fundamental values of their life. This includes patriotism, the willingness to sacrifice everything that is most precious for the sake of family, compatriots, and last but not least, the Motherland.

When you are face to face with the enemy, everything else fades into the background.

A Ukrainian patriot is someone who understands that Ukraine and Europe as a whole are a space of freedom, which means that Ukrainians have the opportunity to develop their own personality and the community to which they belong. At the same time, freedom means responsibility, not permissiveness. My freedom ends where yours begins and vice versa.

A Ukrainian patriot is a democrat, a supporter of the rule of law and human rights. A Ukrainian patriot does not measure the patriotism of others by the color of their skin, language spoken, ethnicity, religion, or political views.

Ukraine's president is Jewish by birth, Ukraine's defense minister is a Crimean Tatar, and Ukraine's commander-in-chief is a general with Russian roots. Are they less patriotic than “one hundred percent Ukrainians”?

The question is rhetorical. It is equally clear that the more someone loves their region, their “small homeland,” the more devotedly they will fight for the freedom of the “big” homeland.

Ukraine is so interesting and strong because it is different. Among Ukrainian soldiers there are members of the LGBT community, environmental activists, IT and artificial intelligence fans. We have well-developed Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic and Protestant chaplaincies. Rabbis and mullahs pray together for victory and peace in Ukraine.

Of course, Ukrainians are not perfect, nor are the relationships in their society. But as they are, we have withstood the Russian invasion and will certainly win.

Source

About the author. Mykola Kniazhytskyi, journalist, Member of Parliament of Ukraine

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