Tyrants have illusion that freedom will lose to tanks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated this in a speech before the participants of Forum 2000 in Prague.

He drew parallels between the Prague Spring of 1968 and events in modern Ukraine.

"Europe is still forced to overcome the consequences of the fact that tyranny was able to hold on for another 20 years. It was able to hold on due to the fact that freedom was not helped. It did not help to show itself to its full potential. It was not armed as it should have been. And not about 'united for her sake'", Zelenskyy said.

"What did this lead to? Deaths and suffering. To a wave of refugees. To the fact that the countries of Eastern and Central Europe remained without freedom for another decade. And not only without political, cultural or personal freedom of people, but also without economic freedom and without many manifestations of normal social development. Only children and grandchildren were able to get the opportunities and well-being that should have been rightfully theirs in the generation of their parents, who were young during the Prague Spring", the president believes.

"This illusion did a lot of harm after 1968. And this illusion is at the heart of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24", Zelenskyy continued. "But right here, on our land, and right now, in our time, we have a historic chance to break this illusion! In Ukraine now is a decisive battle for freedom".

According to the president, tyranny has felt that free peoples know how to defend themselves and that the victory of freedom is absolutely probable.

"This was achieved on different fronts of confrontation. From the frontline, where our Ukrainian soldiers physically defend freedom, to the political sphere, in which we managed to achieve a historic result for the sake of Europe. Even in such a terrible time, Ukraine did everything necessary to obtain the status of a candidate for membership of the European  Union. I am grateful to the people of the Czech Republic, your government, and the parliament for supporting us on the European path. However, the battle for freedom continues!" - Zelenskyy said.