The Permanent parliamentary delegation of Ukraine to PACE participated in opening the “Star of Heavenly Hundred” in Strasbourg
Within the 2017 Autumn Session of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, members of the Permanent parliamentary delegation of Ukraine to PACE took part on October the 11th in the opening ceremony of the "Star of Heavenly Hundred". The ceremony was headed by the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
The event was held on the Avenue of Stars nearby the Palace of Europe, which houses the headquarters of the Council of Europe. The given place in Strasbourg was dedicated to important landmarks that had paved the way to a peaceful, united and prosperous Europe.
Petro Poroshenko reminded that in 2013, millions of Ukrainian people came to the streets of the City of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. “They demanded not the rise in their wages or lesser taxes. They wanted to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union and open the doors to Europe for Ukraine. They distinctly knew what they were struggling for. This became the Revolution of Dignity,” the President emphasized. He reminded that the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred had been slaughtered because of the crimes of the former authorities. “They gave their lives for the European future of Ukraine,” P.Poroshenko noted.
Having opened the “Star of Heavenly Hundred” in Strasbourg, the President called this the symbol of the return of the Ukrainian nation to the European family. “There are the Heavenly Hundred monuments and memorial all over Ukraine and it’s very important that we have such monument, we have the memorial dedicated to Euromaidan and the Heavenly Hundred Heroes in the heart of Europe, and it is a recognition of the importance of Ukraine for Europe and the importance of Euromaidan for Europe, the importance of our values and the way Europe congratulates Ukraine,” he noted.
According to Poroshenko, it is a very symbolic monument. “It is the first sign of Euromaidan and the Heavenly Hundred in Strasbourg. It is extremely important because it is a unique combination. Also, it is dedicated to our great poet Taras Shevchenko. This combination exactly is the tremendous event for the Ukrainian history,” the President noted.
The ceremony was attended by Iryna Herashchenko, the First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Volodymyr Ariev, the Head of the Permanent parliamentary delegation of Ukraine to PACE, a range of the Ukrainian delegates, and families of the Heroes.
According to Volodymyr Ariev, the Head of the Permanent parliamentary delegation of Ukraine to PACE, the Heroes Star was mounted with the assistance of the Permanent Representation of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, the local Ukrainian community and the Ukrainian delegates to PACE.
The Ukrainian
Star of the Heavenly Hundred has become the ninth on the alley. It is marked
with the French inscription:
"In honour of the Heavenly Hundred and all citizens who manifested for Europe and its values during Euromaidan in Ukraine. “Truth, glory and will are with you”. Taras Shevchenko”.