The honor guard raises the Ukrainian flag near the Kyiv City Hall on Aug. 23, 2023, in Kyiv, Ukraine, for Ukraine's Flag Day. (Oleksii Samsonov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
The renewal of Ukraine’s Independence on Aug. 24, 1991, was clearly one of the most defining moments in the history of the 20th century.
Why?
Ukraine’s independence allowed the Ukrainian people to finally emerge from colonialism and enter the circle of free peoples of the world.
Ukraine's independence also forced the dissolution of the Soviet Union thereby ensuring the liberation of many other enslaved peoples of the former Soviet Union.
In other words, Ukraine’s Independence caused the collapse of what former U.S. President Ronald Reagan correctly coined as an “evil empire” and what Russian President Vladimir Putin considers to be “the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century.”
Unfortunately, the world is now witnessing new efforts by Russia to restore this empire, which cannot exist without the subjugation of Ukraine.
Russia will constantly be a serious threat to NATO member countries if Ukraine does not stop Russia now by protecting its borders and, consequently, those of Europe from the Kremlin’s imperialist ambitions.
Therefore, it is in the best interests of NATO member countries to provide Ukraine with all the necessary weapons and ammunition to enable Ukraine to secure a no-fly zone, as well as liberate and defend all its territories in 2023.
The protection of Ukraine’s independence, renewed in 1991, and its territorial integrity is actually the only real guarantee of sovereignty and independence for Ukrainians and the other formerly enslaved peoples of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine’s continued independence and territorial integrity is also the best guarantee for NATO member countries to avoid the kind of war and tragedy that Ukrainians are now suffering.
The sooner all leaders of NATO member countries fully realize this and act accordingly, the sooner peace, security, and economic stability will return to the world.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent.
Eugene Czolij is president of the Ukraine-2050 nongovernmental organization and served as president of the Ukrainian World Congress from 2008-2018. Ukraine-2050 was established to help implement within one generation – by 2050 – strategies for the sustainable development of Ukraine as a fully independent, territorially integral, democratic, reformed and economically competitive European state.
