«European Integration as the lesson learned after World War Two. What does it mean?»

Dear President Komorowski,

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am very honored to be here with you today and to speak on behalf of the people of Ukraine - a heroic nation that shares a glory in the Great Victory of humanity against the Nazism.

It is very symbolic that we have gathered here in Gdansk, a city where the first shots of the World War Two were fired. It’s just remind for all of us how the world was fragile in 1939 and how it is in 2015.

I am always thrilled to come to Poland that in the spirit of Solidamosc movement of Gdansk has become a major driving force of democratic transformation in East-Central Europe and European integration.

The great achievements of last decades that are to be honored and defended.

The EU rose from the wreckage of World War Two and became the only remedy for the notion that a tragedy of this kind can happen again.

But the European integration is not yet completed. Before the EU's Eastern borders coincide with the frontiers of European values, the struggle will go on.

Security on the continent will be fragile until the European Union embraces nations committed to the European future; until there is a conflict between the determination and politics, values and material interests.

Today we must ensure that the mistakes of the 1930-ies must never be repeated, as a large-scale conventional conflict in Europe seems closer than ever before.

Following Austria's Anschluss and Hitler's occupation of the Sudetenland, Poland was the first to face the strike of Nazi fire.

This nation was also the first to experience the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in action when invaded by its large Eastern neighbor.

The joint Soviet-Nazi parade of September 1939 in Brest will be always remembered as the consent to draw lines of division and create spheres of influence in Europe; an ill-fated pattern that should never be repeated again.

Nazism and Communism, anti-Semitism and ethnic hatreds, propaganda and torture - all stand in the same row of crimes from which the major atrocities of the Twentieth Century originated; Crimes which, despite the cruelest lessons learned, are committed today, in the Twenty-first Century, in aggression against my country - Ukraine.

Astonishingly, again we see an attempt to appease the aggressor.

Now, while Ukraine fully abides by the letter and the spirit accorded in Minsk, the aggressor mounts its military strength in Donbas, planning the parade in 2 days, which is completely against all the principles of the Minsk agreements and which will involve Russian state-of-the-art weaponry and heavy artillery in a few hundred metres from the touchline.

Tomorrow on May 8th, for the first time the people of Ukraine will join the European tradition to commemorate the World War Two victims.

While, the very next day in Moscow, under the pretext of the Great Victory, the aggressor's army will rattle its lethal might in front of the world. Some of the units were in Donetsk a few days ago and soon they will appear on the military parade in Moscow.

On behalf of the people of Ukraine, I am grateful to many of the world leaders for declining participation in this parade of cynicism.

The tendency to ignore lessons of the past must be stopped before it is too late.

Today the European Union faces the most difficult challenge in its history - a real test to its unity, solidarity and fundamental principles.

At this challenging time for all of us, it is crucial to keep our unity and commitment, just like 70 years ago. It is key to continue pressure on Russia until the Minsk Agreements are implemented in full.

Today Ukraine is the new forefront of Europe. The post-war lesson of European integration will continue until Ukraine is integrated into the European family.

But now Europe's future is challenged in Ukraine, where people fight to the death because they deeply believe in what Europe stands for: justice, solidarity, freedom and unity.

Giving up on Ukraine would mean giving up on them; and giving up on the memory of those who fought the past wars for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The lessons of the World War Two called for the creation of a international security order based on cooperation, responsibility, respect for sovereignty, and human rights.

I am proud that Ukraine is among UN co-founders, a co-author of the UN Charter and a member of the UN General Assembly since its inception.

And it is key that in the time of high need, this organization will extend its peacekeeping efforts to a country that has deserved the world's recognition as a major contributor to peace.

And I would also like to stress that any attempt to reshuffle the global security rules to overcome excessive problems could be unproductive and even dangerous.

Here I am convinced that the major problem for the current security system is a lack of responsibility and coherence on the part of one of important international players.

On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, a new European Responsibility Charter could be considered to reconfirm our previous international obligations and provide clear mechanisms to punish their violations; to reassert the responsibility and reliable partnership.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The flames of World War Two brought devastation across three continents, affecting 62 countries, wiping towns from the face of the earth.

Even now, the death toll from this war has not yet been defined.

In Ukraine alone, the number of victims has been estimated at 8 million lives, with Ukrainian victims representing 40% of all those who perished in the Soviet Union.

But despite the terrible magnitude of this tragedy, no strategic interests are worth the loss of a single human life.

Just like today, our bleeding wound is the daily loss of lives of Ukrainian heroes and innocent civilians in Donbas.

The pain of that wound may eventually be killed, but its infection will spread. No illusions.

We can't afford to see history repeated.

- Annexations and invasions under the pretext of defending ethnic minorities;

- The temptation of turning a blind eye;

- The corrosion of European solidarity.

This can all become our new reality - depending on the choice of Europe: the choice called "Ukraine".

This choice is political - second of all; and economic - third of all.

But first of all, it is moral. And like all moral choices, it will stay with us forever.

Let our lessons be learnt.

In a few weeks we will convene the EU-Eastern Partnership Summit.

On its eve, I call on Europe to respond to the Ukrainian people, who are still fighting against many evils, which have been left from the most tragic decades of the past.

And as our fight for European values goes on, my nation has already deserved to share and to explore the common European freedoms:

the freedom of movement and the freedom of choice - the European choice.

And we will win again as long as we are together!

Thank you!