Opening the plenary meeting of the Ukrainian Parliament on May 20, 2016, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andrii Parubii congratulated the attendees on Europe Day traditionally celebrated every third Saturday of May since 2003.
"It is a special day for the Ukrainians. Two years ago during the Revolution of Dignity, the Ukrainian people proved Ukraine is indeed an independent state. We are the state that stood at the origins of the European civilization. Ukraine was one of the originators of Europe as a phenomenon, as civilization space," the Speaker said.
The Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada thanked people's deputies, experts and Ukraine's European friends for the work they had done to improve Ukraine's legislation and to harmonize it with the European standards.
"Despite political obstacles, despite the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Crimea and Donbas, we are fast moving towards the European integration. "Ukraine is Europe," we said during the Euromaidan," Andrii Parubii said.