This year, the whole of Ukraine was eagerly awaiting the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize laureates. In our view, this award is recognition of the efforts of the Ukrainian people, who courageously resist attempts to destroy the peaceful development of Europe. This award also pays tribute to the work carried out by human rights activists to fight against the military threat hanging over the entire world. We are proud that, for the first time in history, the Ukrainian language resounds during this official ceremony.
Today we receive the Nobel Peace Prize while this war unleashed by Russia is raging. A war that has been going on for eight years, nine months and twenty-one days now. For millions of people, the terms bombardments, torture, deportation, filtration camps have become ordinary terms. But no words can express the pain of a mother who lost her newborn baby in the bombardment of a maternity ward. A moment earlier, she caresses her little one, calls him by his name, gives him her breast, breathes in his scent. The next moment, a Russian missile reduces his entire universe to nothing. And now her beloved and longed-for baby lies in the smallest coffin in the world.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to the challenges we Ukrainians and the world face. In several countries, people are fighting for their rights and their freedom in extremely difficult conditions. So today I’m going to at least try to ask the right questions, so we can start looking for solutions.
- 1 – How to give meaning to human rights?
The survivors of the Second World War are no longer of this world. And new generations tend to take rights and freedoms for granted. Yet even in developed democracies, forces challenging the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are gaining ground. Just because human rights have been guaranteed in the past does not mean they will be in the future. We must continue, relentlessly, to protect the values of modern civilization.
Peace, progress and human rights are inextricably linked. A state that kills journalists, imprisons activists and disperses peaceful protests is a threat to its citizens. But also for the region as a whole, and for peace throughout the world. Accordingly, the world must respond adequately to these systematic violations of the law. Human rights must have as much weight in political decisions as economic benefits or security. This is particularly the case in foreign policy.
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