BERLIN — President Volodymyr Zelenskiy collected the celebrated Charlemagne Prize on behalf of the Ukrainian folks on Sunday in honour of providers to Europe, capping a go to to Germany during which he secured new navy support and heat help from Berlin.
Zelenskiy flew to the western metropolis of Aachen with Chancellor Olaf Scholz following talks within the German capital. He obtained a standing ovation at a ceremony within the Coronation room of Aachen city corridor, the place he was awarded the prize, which celebrates providers to European unification.
“Ukrainians will always make Europe stronger,” Zelenskiy mentioned in English earlier than switching to Ukrainian to handle the gathering that included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
“Ukraine is proposing a victory not just in this war but a victory over aggression, annexations, deportations over the catastrophe of genocide, anywhere throughout the world,” he mentioned.
Speaking on the similar occasion, Scholz harassed Germany’s backing for Ukrainian aspirations to affix the European Union though he had earlier side-stepped a query on Kyiv’s speedy accession to the NATO navy alliance.
“Vladimir Putin may have thought he could force the Ukrainian nation off its path to Europe through violence, but all his tanks, drones and rocket launchers have had quite the opposite effect,” Scholz mentioned.
The German authorities introduced €2.7 billion ($3 billion) of navy support to Ukraine on Saturday, its greatest such bundle since Russia’s invasion.
Aachen was the residence of the Emperor Charlemagne, typically known as the “father of Europe,” who managed to unite a lot of western Europe within the early ninth century.
The Ukrainian folks, beneath Zelenskiy’s management, are combating not just for their nation “but also Europe and European values,” the prize committee mentioned in an announcement.
The award underscored the committee’s conviction that Ukraine deserved “to enter swiftly into accession negotiations with the European Union.”
Previous recipients of the prize embody French President Emmanuel Macron and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
