Ukraine's Position Must Be As Unshakable As Granite

The era of decolonizing the mind calls for resolve.

Today, when the trials of our resilience demand the utmost fortitude and unshakable faith, we are once again witnessing how poisonous seeds of disappointment are being sown in our war-torn land. Certain politicians, seeking quick publicity or succumbing to weakness of heart, allow themselves to make thoughtless statements about “parity,” “linguistic concessions,” the abandonment of our Euro-Atlantic choice, and “peace at any cost.”

I am deliberately not naming this politician. The wise Ukrainian people know perfectly well who I am referring to, even without being told. But I strongly urge this figure—as well as anyone who presumes to speak on behalf of society—to immediately hit the books and get to grips with the basic, fundamental concepts and definitions.

When, in Munich in 1938, the then-British prime minister signed an agreement with the aggressor and, upon returning home, exclaimed from the balcony, “I have brought you peace”—that was not peace. It was an illusory delusion. It was a shameful capitulation to evil, which—due to the blurring of concepts and a lack of resolve—opened the doors to the enemy and plunged all of humanity into the maelstrom of the bloodiest catastrophe in history.

What is being proposed today under the guise of “acknowledging reality” is the same Munich scenario, the same ruinous illusion. Whoever chooses disgrace over war will inevitably get both disgrace and war. It is high time we heeded the maxim of the great stateswoman Golda Meir, who offered an absolute and uncompromising definition of such “peace initiatives”: “We seek to live. Our neighbors seek to see us dead. That leaves little room for compromise.” When the enemy comes to challenge your right to exist, any bargaining over language, faith, or national security is not a peace plan. It is a plan for the nation’s suicide.

For our Ukrainian statehood, for every Ukrainian word, the finest sons and daughters of our people have given their lives for centuries. Mykhailo Hrushevsky and Symon Petliura, Yevhen Konovalets and Stepan Bandera, Yaroslav Stetsko, and thousands of unyielding UPA warriors fought for it. How does this politician intend to look their memory in the eye? How will he look into the eyes of our heroes today, who are holding the front lines at the cost of their own lives?

Ukraine’s position must be as unshakable as granite:

identity is not a matter for negotiation. Our language, our church, and our history are the fundamental shield of our nation;
security through strength. The only real guarantee of peace for Ukraine is a strong army and full NATO membership, not yet another piece of paper on neutrality;
victory, not surrender. True peace is possible only when the aggressor is stopped, punished, and deprived of the ability to commit evil.

Therefore, I call on our politicians to take responsibility for every word they speak. The time for decolonizing our consciousness demands firmness. We have no right to trade away what was won with the blood of many generations.

Viktor Yushchenko, Facebook

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