VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russia’s president, deserves the highest medal of Ukraine. He has done more for its European integration in the past few months than any Ukrainian politician has over the past 20 years. He has stopped the country’s directionless drift, consolidated its elite, given it an impetus westward and mobilised European politicians. Never before has Ukraine been so close to signing an association and free-trade agreement with the European Union, a step towards EU membership.
Nestled amid the green Crimean hills, lapped by the Black Sea’s languid waves, Yalta’s battle-scarred appearance in February 1945 prompted Winston Churchill to call it “the Riviera of Hades.” It still has the faint aura of a seaside resort for secret policemen.
President of the Republic of Poland (1995-2005), Chairman of the YES Board, YES Special gathering in Kyiv on February 24th, 2025 “Three Years — Time to Win”
«We Democrats, we Europeans, are fighting against ruthless power, lies, and effective propaganda. To fight these behaviours, we have to connect with our values, because that is our power, our moral advantage.
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