Ukrainian human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk accepted the European Order of Merit in Strasbourg on Tuesday, declaring that Ukraine is "returning home to European values" after three centuries under the shadow of the Russian Empire. Visibly emotional, she told the European Parliament: "We are paying the highest price for this."
Matviichuk, head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Centre for Civil Liberties, was honored for her "significant contribution to European integration and the promotion and defence of European values." She joined former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Polish President Lech Wałęsa as an inaugural laureate.
In her address, Matviichuk warned that President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion aims beyond Ukraine. "He sees Ukraine as a bridge to Europe," she said. "People in other European countries are safe only because Ukrainians are still resisting."
She cautioned that "the global storm is approaching" and that the world order based on the UN Charter has collapsed. "Europe is less about geography, but more about values. Europe must defend freedom and democracy," she concluded.