Why you, Ukraine?

OLGA of Kiev was one of the most hurtful and implacable rulers in the history of the Kievan Rus’ – the principality that would eventually give birth to today’s Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, stretching at its height from the Baltic Sea in the North to the Black Sea in the South.

Born sometime around 903 CE?in Pskov, Russia, history gives Olga scarcely a glance for much of her life – including her marriage to Igor, Prince?of Kiev and the birth of her son.

With her husband’s death though, Olga becomes more than a wife and mother, and without sacrificing either of those duties, takes centre stage.

Like all rising empires, Kievan Rus’ had grown at the expense of its?neighbours and one tribe had grown wary of their smothering embrace.

The relationship between the Drevlians and?Kievan Rus’ was complex – they had joined the Rus’ in military campaigns against the Byzantine Empire and paid tribute to Igor’s predecessors, but stopped in 912 when the previous prince died and instead paid this glorified protection money to a local warlord.

By why is Olga of Kiev still venerated as a saint over a thousand years after her death?

She was the first ruler of the Kievan Rus’ to adopt?Christianity and Olga’s efforts to convert the rest of her people (although not her son, who remained a pagan) earned her the title?Isapóstolos: “Equal to the Apostles.”

The Primary?Chronicle?[1]?tells that Olga received the Patriarch's blessing for her journey home, and that once she arrived, she unsuccessfully attempted to convert her son to Christianity.

?Now Olga dwelt with her son Sviatoslav, and she urged him to be baptized, but he would not listen to her suggestion, though when any man wished to be baptized, he was not hindered, but only mocked. For to the infidels, the Christian faith is foolishness. They do not comprehend it, because they walk in darkness and do not see the glory of God. Their hearts are hardened, and they can neither hear with their ears nor see with their eyes. For Solomon has said, "The deeds of the unrighteous are far from wisdom. Inasmuch as I have called you, and ye heard me not, I sharpened my words, and ye understood not. But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would have none of my reproach. For they have hated knowledge, and the fear of Jehovah they have not chosen. They would none of my counsel, but despised all my reproof.????—Primary Chronicle,?82.

Passage 82 highlights the hostility towards Christianity in Kievan Rus' in the tenth century. In the?Chronicle,?Sviatoslav declares that his followers would "laugh" if he were to accept Christianity. While Olga tried to convince her son that his followers would follow his example if he converted, her efforts were in vain. However, her son agreed not to persecute those in his kingdom who did convert, which marked a crucial turning point for Christianity in the area. Despite the resistance of her people to Christianity, Olga built churches in Kiev, Pskov, and elsewhere.

Santa Olga of Kiev was canonized?600 years after her death in honour of her efforts to introduce Christianity to medieval Russia.?She is the patron saint of widows and converts.

The harmony of the exceptional Kiev’ walk where Santa Olga's monument stands, which goes from St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery?to the Saint Sophia Cathedral, is disturbed by the resound of the?demonstrations and protests: The Revolution of Dignity [Революц?я г?дност?]. Also known as "Euromaidan"?[November 2013 to February2014], which began to demand that the Government of Ukrainian resume the suspended talks with the European Union, on the Agreement of Association and Free Trading with the European Union.

From claiming an economic return towards Europe, to calling for a complete change of Government.

Almost a decade later, the?cruel, bloody and inhuman Russian invasion of Ukraine, the?war that broke out in Ukraine in February 2022, returns us to the Revolution of Dignity to Euromaidan. The both are closely link, both are about the Ukraine’s European Identity.

How did simple street demonstrations escalate into an armed conflict, in which some 14,000 people have died, and which in February 2022 led to one of Europe’s biggest post-war humanitarian crisis?

The tempestuous story surrounding Santa Olga,?the murdered of fourteen million people in the “Bloodlands” under the Nazi and Soviet regimes?[2],?the cruel, bloody and inhuman Russian invasion…Ukraine has been perpetually caught in a battle for self-determination while outside forces vie over its future.?

What does the EU say about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

The EU has strongly condemned Putin’s decision to recognise the non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk and Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine.?

While losing control over part of its territory and suffering human and economic losses because of the conflict in the eastern part of the country, Ukraine continued throughout the years as a resilient democracy moving closer to the European Union and gradually aligning with the acquis.

Five days after Russia launched its full-scale unprovoked and unjustified aggression, Ukraine presented its application for membership of the European Union.

?What else needs to happen in Europe to make it clear to sceptics that the very fact of keeping Ukraine outside the European Union works against Europe? […]

Ukraine has officially received the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union.

Candidate status is a mandatory step that most countries have gone through. This is a point of no return. It's not just a new name or a new sign. This is a new status and a new image.

Today it is recognized: Ukraine is not a bridge, not a pillow between the West and Russia, not a buffer between Europe and Asia, not a sphere of influence, not a "grey" zone, not a transit territory. Not the border between orcs and elves.

Ukraine is a future equal partner for at least 27 EU countries. […]

I would like to emphasize a very important point. We are changing Ukraine for ourselves, not for someone else. We are implementing reforms not because of someone's demands, but because of our own beliefs. Ukraine seeks not to join, but to return to the European family. In 2014, the Ukrainian people withstood and defended its European future. But it has chosen it much earlier.?[…]

EU candidate status is a recognition of our achievements in becoming a mature democratic European society?.?—Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, address on granting the EU Candidate Status.

Overall, as regards the political criteria, Ukraine is well advanced in reaching the stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities.

At noon on June 23, 2022, the EU Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of granting EU candidate status to Ukraine. 529 of 588. Hours later, the Council of the EU replicated the will of the Parliament.

Among other things,?The European Commission has recommended Ukraine to take the following steps:

·?Enact and implement legislation on the selection procedure for magistrates of the Constitutional Court;

· Legislate also?on the judge’s selection procedures;

·?Asap, to appoint the new Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor′s Office and the new director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine;?

·?Further strengthen the fight against corruption;

·?Ensure that the anti-money laundering legislation is in compliance with the standards of the FATF;

·?Implement the Anti-Oligarch law, to limit the excessive influence of oligarchs in the economic, political, and public life;

·?Tackle the influence of vested interests by adopting a media law that aligns Ukraine's legislation with the EU audio-visual media services directive;

·?Finalise the reform of the legal framework for national minorities;

?So today is first and foremost a moment to celebrate this historic milestone. A victory of determination and resolve. And a victory for the whole movement that started eight years ago on the Maidan.

You have come such a long way since 2014. You have chosen firmly to be a democracy and to live under the rule of law. This choice, Ukraine has already made for itself, for its own sake. Mr President, you once told me that everything that Ukraine would do for EU membership it would do anyway. Because that is the modern and prosperous Ukraine you want it to be. The next steps are within your reach. But they will require hard work, determination and above all unity of purpose. […]

I believe in Ukraine's European future. And the reason is simple. The reason is the?tenacity of the Ukrainian people. Your resolve. Your passion for Europe. Your desire to live the European dream in your beautiful?country?.?—Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission,?address to the Ukrainian Parliament following the European Council decision granting Ukraine the candidate status.

In addition to the official legal consolidation of Ukraine's European future, the EU candidate status shall provide a number of supplementary advantages for Ukraine on the European integration path:

· Capacity Building: a large-scale country transformation aiming the EU membership: legislative, economic, social, technological, etc;

· Finance: Ukraine will have access to financial assistance for countries preparing to join the EU;

· Investments: in the course of reforms Ukraine will become more attractive to foreign investors and also EU member states would consider investing in Ukraine as contributing to growth and strengthening of the EU;

· Development and Cooperation - Ukraine could join the EU programs and initiatives open to countries with candidate status.

The capacity of the country to cope with the competitive pressure in the EU will depend crucially on how post-war investments in Ukraine are designed and sequenced in order to upgrade its physical capital, improve educational outcomes and spur innovation.

Many of the laws and the institutions which Ukraine needs are already in place. Now is the time to translate rules and bodies into positive and enduring change. From the paper to the people!

There is a long way ahead but Europe will be at Ukraine’s side every step of the way, for as long as it takes, from these dark days of war until the moment Ukraine cross the door that leads into the European Union.

As in previous periods of uncertainty, the tenacity of the Ukrainian people, their resolve, their passion will prevail, and a free, prosperous and vibrant Ukraine, a sovereign Ukraine, will finally reunite with the European family.

Ukraine's glory has not yet died, nor her freedom!

_________________

[1]?The Primary?Chronicle?often known in English as the?Rus' Primary Chronicle,?or simply the?Primary Chronicle?is an Old East Slavic?[2]?chronicle?from about 850 to 1110, originally compiled in?Kiev?around 1113.?The work’s name originates from the opening sentence of the text, which reads: “These are the narratives of bygone years regarding the origin of the land of Rus’ the first princes of Kiev, and from what source the land of Rus’ had its beginning.” The work is considered to be a fundamental source in the interpretation of the history of the East Slavs.

[2]?The time is between about 1930 – the start of the second Ukraine famine – and 1945. The zone is the territory that lies between central Poland and, roughly, the Russian border, covering eastern Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic republics. Timothy Snyder's "Bloodlands" label is jarring, a title those beautiful lands and those who now live there do not deserve. But it's true that in those years and in those places, the unimaginable total of 14 million innocent human beings, most of them women and children, were shot, gassed or intentionally starved to?death.

? CMadeCyC. Spain. 2022.?

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