Ukraine celebrated the 30th anniversary of its independence on Tuesday (August 24). It held a military parade and large-scale celebrations in its capital Kiev, vowing to reclaim the territory annexed by Russia in order to join NATO and the European Union and get rid of the shackles of Moscow.
Approximately 5,000 Ukrainian troops equipped with tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and air defense system troops marched along the central street of Kiev. Ukrainian naval forces held a military parade in the Black Sea port of Odessa.
The anniversary coincides with Moscow’s ongoing confrontation, which annexed the strategic Black Sea peninsula Crimea in 2014 and has since supported the separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy kicked off the parade with an exciting speech before thousands of people gathered in Maidan Square. He said that a strong Ukraine is “an ambition A vigorous and decisive country”.
The President of Ukraine said: “The opportunities for such a country to become a NATO partner will increase. Such a country will receive official support from other countries when it applies to join the European Union.”
“But if it’s such a country, it doesn’t need to request an invitation, others will invite it,” he added, but did not elaborate.
Earlier this year, Ukraine, which applied to join NATO in 2008, asked the alliance to speed up the country’s accession process, saying it was the only way to end the fight with pro-Russian separatists.
However, as long as there is an unresolved conflict between Ukraine and Russia, NATO member states are still reluctant to accept Ukraine because of fear of increasing tensions with Moscow.
at the same time, Ukraine and NATO member Hungary The approximately 150,000 Hungarians living in the Transcarpathians in western Ukraine are also arguing whether they have the right to use their mother tongue, especially in education. This led Budapest to block the holding of talks between Ukraine and the NATO Committee.
At the same time, the three Eastern European countries, Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, formed a new initiative called the “Joint Trio” and re-emphasized their goal of becoming a member of the European Union in May.
At the military parade in Kiev on Tuesday, a military band played the EU’s unofficial national anthem “Ode to Joy”, sending another subtle message to Brussels.
However, Ukraine’s efforts in the EU and NATO are still hampered by the ongoing war in the east of the country, and Zelensky said it will return to Ukraine.
“Territory may be occupied, but it cannot occupy the people’s love for Ukraine. One can create a desperate situation for people to obtain (Russian) passports, but cannot issue passports for their Ukrainian hearts,” Zelensky said.
“If some people in Crimea and Donbass (a region in eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists) are afraid to talk about it, it doesn’t mean they are afraid to think about it. They will come back because we are family.”
Delegations from 46 countries and groups, including 14 presidents, attended the military parade in Kiev.
Most people also attended the Crimea Platform Summit on Monday, which was initiated by Ukraine to put pressure on Russia and attract international attention, and promised to withdraw after Russian troops occupy the strategic Black Sea peninsula for seven and a half years. Crimea.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron were absent in Kiev. Their country was strongly involved in the Normandy model of efforts to resolve the war situation in eastern Ukraine. Many observers believe that energy relations with Russia are higher than security. .
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
