On the 14th December 2022, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of thought is awarded to the "brave people of Ukraine". A ceremony takes place in the European Parliament, in Strasbourg. Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, President of Ukraine, connects remotely to the hemycicle and gives a speech to thanks the European Parliament for awarding his people.

EU - Ukraine (T)

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

troubles in Ukraine (T)

speech

ceremony

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

president's agenda

solidarity with Ukraine (T)

ZELENSKYY, Volodymyr (UA)

Ukraine's application for EU membership (T)

Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought 2022 (T)

consequences of the war in Ukraine (T)

Award of the Sakharov Prize 2022: statement by Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, Madam President, Dear Roberta, Dear friends. I great you on behalf of all our people. It's a great honour. I greet shoot on behalf of those who are fighting, who work for the sake of Ukraine and for the sake of freedom, for the sake of what is impossible to imagine all of us.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, For all of us life in Europe, it is impossible to imagine that Ukraine new without freedom. And not only because it would be simply untrue, but also because any attempt to deprive Europe of Ukraine and freedom is always a crime. And with such a crime now Russia's terrorist war against Ukraine and Europe. It was also in the past when tyrannies tried to conquer Ukrainians and deprive all Europeans of their freedom.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, But when we win now, Ukrainians and all Europeans, we will win in such a way that there will never be attempts to deprive Europe of Ukraine and freedom. We will win so that there will be no attempts to apply again, the genocidal policy against our people, both in Ukraine and throughout Europe. We must give and will give a new effective security architecture for global freedom and international law and order.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, I believe this is part of our moral duty. Look at how the Russian army is advancing the occupiers are burning everything in front of them with artillery and missiles, bombs and drones, mines and ammunition, unexploded ammunition that remain in our land. The occupants are destroying cities and villages, all vital infrastructure.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, It happened in Mariupol. You all saw it. It was the same in another city completely destroyed after the Russian offensive. More than 20,000 people live there before this war. Now it is a total ruin. The Russian is on is doing the same with the government of a city in Donbas where Russian strikes leave just broken stones and more than 70,000 people used to live there until recently last year. Now it is in ruins.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, Perhaps only after the end of this war, when we liberate all of our land and we will be able to find all the graves of the victims of Russian terror. We'll be able to say how many lives tyranny has taken this time. Now we know thousands of names of the victims. Unfortunately, there may be more, many more. I ask you all to observe a minute's silence in memory of all Ukrainian men and women, all adults and children, all military and civilians whose lives were taken by this Russian war, by this deplorable war.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, Dear friends, we must act now. Not waiting for the war to end. To bring to justice all those who unleashed it. And to prevent any repetition of aggression. This will be the most effective protection of freedom. Human rights, the rule of law, and other common values which are embodied in particular by this rule of the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, This Sakharov Prize. I'm grateful to everyone who investigates and helps to investigate the crimes of the occupiers of Ukraine, who is looking for information about Russian murderers and terrorists. I'm grateful to the International Criminal Court, which closely cooperates with Ukrainian prosecutors and has a clear intention to bring justice to the crimes committed by the occupiers on the territory of our states.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, And I'm grateful to all leaders and states, all pilots, shithole politicians and international organisations that work together with us and make every effort to establish the tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine. I call on all of you, your parties and states to effectively support this work. They tribunal must start working.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, The European Parliament has already supported this idea. It is necessary to make it a reality as soon as possible. In particular, through the adoption of a separate European Parliament's resolution in support for the establishment of the Tribunal. Through your support and support of the relevant EU in General Assembly Resolution by your countries.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, The cities and villages destroyed by Russia, destroyed lives, broken and shot lives should be reflected not only for those who directly committed all this, but also for those who organised and started this aggression.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, And when the principle of the inevitability of punishment will work for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, we will be able to make the appropriate institutional basis of justice permanent. When any potential aggressor knows that punishment for a criminal war is inevitable, it will be the most effective tool for war prevention.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, And one more thing, historical responsibility: evil always has a motive to return when the history of evil is not fully written. Dear members of Parliament, I know that tomorrow you will be considering the issue of recognising the Holodomor crime against the Ukrainian people as genocide. And I urge you to support such recognition with the maximum majority of votes to establish justice.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, Europe must give the strongest possible signal that there will be no gap in the history of tragedies on our continent, in the history of crimes against humanity and humanity committed to our land. And I believe that it will be so.

SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian), Volodymyr ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President, Thank you for your support. Thank you for supporting and celebrating our struggle. Thank you personally for marking our struggle. Thank you personally, Roberta, for supporting us. You came to Kiev in a difficult and dangerous time for supporting our reforms. Thank you for supporting a movement to European structures that are really help and really helping. Thank you. Glory to all our soldiers. Glory to each and everyone who defends freedom in our people. Glory to Ukraine.