Von der Leyen presented with Order of Europe in Ukraine

“Ukraine’s fight is not only a fight for your own freedom. It is an existential fight for Europe’s freedoms – for its values, its self-determination,” President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday at the ceremony marking Ukrainian Statehood Day and the Day of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus-Ukraine on Mykhailivska Square, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented her the Order of Europe. 

The order is a new state award that the Head of State established on Constitution Day, marked in Ukraine on 28 June, and presented for the first time.

“I want to thank you personally for the great privilege you are bestowing on me with this first-ever Order of Europe. And there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be for this occasion than here in St Michael’s Square. Because this Square is a living testament to this great nation and its unbreakable spirit,” von der Leyen said.

According to the official website of the President of Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen was awarded the Order of Europe for her “outstanding personal contribution to advancing Ukraine’s strategic course toward full membership in the European Union, her significant contribution to strengthening Ukraine’s resilience in defending its independence and Europe’s security, and to promoting international cooperation in the interests of democracy, peace, good-neighborly relations, and strong, comprehensive ties between nations.”

In her speech, Ursula von der Leyen recalled her previous visits to Ukraine since the start of the full scale invasion in February 2022, including visits to Bucha, “seeing the scale of evil and barbarity unleashed on Ukraine” and a small village in the Kharkiv region named after the great Ukrainian philosopher, Hryhorii Skovoroda, whose house and museum was demolished by a Russian missile in May 2022, 300 years after his birth.

“It was a direct attack on Ukraine’s culture and history. An attempt to destroy its soul, its identity, the very idea of its existence. And above all, it was an attempt to subdue the fight for freedom,” von der Leyen said. “As the sun rose after the destruction of the night, almost nothing was left of the museum. Only one item survived: the statue of the great writer himself. Among the rubble and ashes – there stood the giant Skovoroda, tall and proud. A defiant symbol that Ukraine’s freedom will never be diminished – let alone vanquished. That image is a powerful reminder that our inner freedom – both Ukraine’s and Europe’s – can never be taken away. And they can never be divided.”

Von der Leyen also said she has been told in Kyiv a word in Ukrainian that perfectly sums up the spirit of the European flag – ‘Nezlamnist’. 

“A spirit that is unbreakable and indestructible. Stoic and unshakeable. This is the founding spirit of Europe,” concluded von der Leyen.

Find out more

Press release