The Ukrainian nation awarded in Munich. Tusk: You deserve the highest respect of the entire free world
The Ukrainian nation deserves the highest respect from the entire free world and all people of good will, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday in Munich. He added that Ukrainians pay the highest price for resistance to an enemy that poses a threat to the entire Western world.
President Volodymyr Zelensky received the Award on Saturday evening. Ewald von Kleist awarded this year to the Ukrainian nation for “its courage, sacrifice and unwavering determination to defend its own freedom and the freedom of all Europe.”
Giving his laudation, Tusk emphasized that “the Ukrainian nation deserves the highest respect of the entire free world, all people of good will, everyone who has the elementary ability to distinguish good from evil, truth from lies, and for whom the moral order, decency and dignity are not just relics of the past.”
– We admire the Ukrainian nation for the courage and bravery of its sons and daughters, for its extraordinary resistance to the inhuman suffering of the civilian population, including thousands of kidnapped Ukrainian children, and for its faith in the sense of the unequal fight against a powerful, brutal aggressor, doomed in the opinion of many to failure, – said Tusk.
– This war was not the choice of Ukraine or Zelensky, their choice was to defend themselves against the aggressor, to defend an independent state and its citizens, to defend their dreams of a better world, freedom, human rights, and accession to NATO and the European Union – emphasized the Prime Minister.
💬 Prime Minister @donaldtusk In #Munich: The United West – with its values ​​and institutions, with NATO and the European Union – is the best political invention in the history of mankind. We cannot allow anyone from the outside, or what is even more dangerous today – from the inside, to destroy… pic.twitter.com/xWP4DEIuzg
— Chancellery of the Prime Minister (@PremierRP) February 14, 2026
He pointed out that Ukrainians pay the highest price for resistance to an enemy who is also a threat to us, a threat to Poles, Europeans, and the entire Western world.
– We are also grateful that you made the entire free world aware that without a fight, without readiness to confront evil, without strength and determination, this world will not survive – added the Polish Prime Minister.
Zelensky received the award. von Kleist; it is a reward for our strength and friendship
This is a reward for our strength and friendship with all of you, said the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky when receiving the Award. Ewald von Kleist, which the Munich Security Conference awarded to the Ukrainian nation.
– I'm proud. This is a reward for our strength and friendship with all of you. After all, without friendship, strength is impossible. I want to thank you today. To all leaders, without whom the strength we have today would be impossible, Zelensky said, accepting the award.
The president then named the leaders of states and heads of international institutions who support Ukraine in its defensive war with Russia.
– It is a great honor to be here today and to be the president of my country, concluded Zelensky.
The President of Ukraine received the award at the Munich Residence, the seat of the kings of Bavaria. The award was given to the people of Ukraine for “its courage, sacrifice and unwavering determination to defend its own freedom and the freedom of all Europe.” This is the first time in the history of the award that it is awarded to an entire nation.
Tusk: We cannot stop being good; this is Ukrainian science for all of us
The quintessence of our civilization was to stand on the side of good; we cannot stop being good, this is Ukrainian science for all of us – said Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the laudation delivered on the occasion of awarding the Ukrainian nation with the Prize. Ewald von Kleist.
– As a Pole, I want to say it clearly and clearly today: it was worth fighting to become part of the free world. Yesterday it concerned us, today Ukrainians show that these despised, and according to some outdated, values ​​and institutions work. They introduce goodness, security and freedom – said Prime Minister Tusk in his laudation during the award ceremony at the residence of the Bavarian kings.
– Here and there I hear opinions that Europe is on the verge of collapse. NATO is obsolete, the world order should cease to exist and that the era of transactional politics and the concert of powers has now come. Nonsense. Those who think that everything can be bought should also remember that, according to this philosophy, anyone can be sold – added the Prime Minister.
He emphasized that the united West and its values ​​and institutions, led by NATO and the European Union, are “the best political invention in the history of humanity.”
– We cannot allow anyone from the outside, and what is even more important today – from the inside, to annihilate our world. We must be strong, because there is nothing worse in politics than the synthesis of strength and evil. The quintessence of our civilization has always been to stand on the side of good, knowing that good will not defend itself. We must be strong, we cannot stop being good. This is Ukrainian science for all of us, Tusk noted.
Award named after The Ewald von Kleist Award has been awarded by the MSC since 2009. Its winners include: former German Chancellors Helmut Schmidt and Angela Merkel, former US Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and John Kerry, former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana, current EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, OSCE and UN. (PAP)
