Today marks exactly one year since the beginning of Russia’s brutal military aggression against Ukraine, which pushed the Ukrainian people into unprecedented sufferings, loss of human lives and horrible destruction. And faced the rest of us with the fact that a bloody conflict is once again being waged in Europe, which causes a humanitarian, economic, energy and security crisis. It is a tragedy that has entered our homes and our thoughts and before which we have no right to remain speechless, said President Stevo Pendarovski, during his speech in the conference “Ukraine – A Year of Heroism”.

He said that he remembers, on the eve of the aggression, at the Munich Security Conference, the most optimistic prognosis was that in case of an attack, Ukraine would not be able to withstand more than two weeks. But Ukraine did withstand, determined to preserve its independence at all costs. Ukraine, which in the past months paid the fight for democracy with thousands of human lives, has shown that the definite choice of every nation is democracy and freedom, and not tyranny and violence.

“The scenes we see every day before our eyes from Ukrainian cities and villages speak of the courage and unbreakable spirit of the Ukrainian people, which is the strongest confirmation that the weapon of the aggressor is not stronger than faith in freedom and love for the homeland. The sacrifice that the Ukrainian people are making today is a message for all those who are still calculating and analyzing how this war should end. For every moral human being, the only fair outcome should be liberation of the entire territory of Ukraine”, added Pendarovski.

According to President Pendarovski, there is no dilemma that Ukraine is already a moral winner in this conflict, as it has succeeded behind its cause to unite the democratic world that has shown unseen solidarity and support in opposing the trampling of human rights and going after the freedom of others. For all those who think with their head, there is no dilemma that the Russian aggression is a war of a dictatorship against a democracy. A war of the past against prosperity and in that clash the democratic world has no right to a defeat.

“Precisely because of this, from the very begging, as a country, together with our allies in the NATO Alliance, we offered support and we continue further to assist with humanitarian, technical and military assistance that is needed to reduce the losses, repair the damages and win the final victory. In the light of the more frequent predictions recently that the aggressor is regrouping, reinforcing and preparing offensives along the eastern and southern front, the unity of the democratic world and the continuous robust support to Ukraine is just as important as is the determination of the Ukrainian people to win. In this sense, the fact that in the past weeks,key European allies, together with the United States, have made important decisions for specific military and economic assistance to Ukraine that will enable defense and suppression of the Russian forces outside of the occupied territories can only be pleasing. It is clear that only in this way can conditions be created for ending the war and providing guarantees that Ukraine and Europe will never again face existential threats and conflicts of devastating proportions. In this context, it is important to stress that the choice as to when and under which conditions peace will happen would be most justly made by the Ukrainian citizens themselves, who are fighting for their own survival. Our support to their efforts will continue to be unequivocal and concrete, because legitimizing aggression as a means for achieving any goal is not only unacceptable, but is also immoral in a world in which human life is the basic value. A world in which the power of the aggressor is stronger than peace and democracy would be a dangerous place for living, in which permanent instability would be our “new normal”. All free-thinking and thinking people must not allow for us to live in such a world”, declared President Pendarovski.