Members of the European Parliament have awarded the people of Ukraine, represented by the president and civil society, the 2022 Andrei Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

The winner of the 2022 prize was announced by Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, at a plenary meeting in Strasbourg on October, 19. The President of the European Parliament noted:

This award is for those Ukrainians who are fighting on the ground. For those who have been forced to flee. For those who have lost loved ones and relatives. 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. … Russia’s unprovoked aggressive war against Ukraine is taking a huge toll on the Ukrainian people. They (Ukrainians) are not only fighting to defend their homes, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, but are also defending freedom, democracy, the rule of law and European values on the battlefield against a brutal regime that seeks to undermine our democracy, weaken and divide our Union.

The nomination also recognised the role of various representatives of Ukrainian civil society, including human rights activist and head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, Oleksandra Matviychuk, founder of the evacuation medical unit “Taira’s Angels”, Yulia Paevska, and Ivan Fedorov, mayor of Melitopol, which is currently under Russian occupation.

The Sakharov Prize will be awarded on December, 14, 2022 in Strasbourg.

 

Photo: Midjourney neuronet

20.10.2022