Yulia Tymoshenko’s Day of Freedom address (Video)

Today is a remarkable day. Today marks five years since our Maidan. Today is Freedom Day!

Lately I often hear that Freedom Day isn’t a holiday. That the Maidan isn’t a matter of pride and that five years ago everything was done for naught…

I understand the people who say this. People have grown tired of dirty politics and corrupt politicians. Almost five years were wasted - lost illusions, hopes, if not dead completely then long-suffering…

But despite everything, I am firmly convinced that the Maidan was not in vain. And Freedom Day can’t be diminished and devalued, just like you can’t diminish the very idea of Freedom and freedom itself.

The people came out not for Yushchenko or against Yanukovych. The people came out for themselves and for Ukraine. And a completely new and free Ukraine was born on that Maidan, with free and strong people. And, by the way, the people on the blue and white maidan were also standing for themselves.

I know many people who spoke Ukrainian for the first time in their life on the Maidan.

I know people who sang the Ukrainian anthem for the first time, putting their hands on their hearts.

I know people who for the first time felt themselves part of a nation, and pride in being Ukrainian...Is this something that you can regret? Can this ever be diminished?

Yes, certain politicians betrayed the Maidan, and the people who stood on the Maidan turned out to be ten times better than the politicians...This is something that we can and should regret, but we should never, I ask you, regret that the Maidan happened, and regret that there is now Freedom in our country...Because such events happen once in one hundred or two hundred years, and these are the types of events that a nation should always be proud of, and that go down in real history.

I am personally proud that I was a part of this great and bright event. I remember how all the foreign diplomats used to wear orange ties.

I am proud of the First Television Channel sign language interpreter who, against the instructions, announced on the news: don’t believe it, Yanukovych is not the president...

I'm proud of the students of the internal affairs academy who came out to the Maidan in their uniforms and were the first to say that the police are with the people.

I’m proud of those women who took off from work to cook borscht in the Ukrainian House...

I’m proud of the people who brought to the Maidan medicine and food, blankets and jackets, who at their own cost traveled from all over Ukraine to defend themselves and their freedom on the Maidan.

And I’m proud of that boy from Donetsk and girl from Lviv who got married on the Maidan, despite having come to Kyiv with completely different political views...

I am proud of Ukraine, which demonstrated its beauty and strength.

Were these people afraid? Yes...they had families, jobs, businesses...They could have all been destroyed. But the main result of the Maidan is that it killed the fear of an omnipotent and immoral regime that didn’t allow people to feel free.

I also remember the article by journalist Valeriy Paniushkin in the magazine Kommersant. He wrote: I’m sitting in a hotel in Kyiv and below me a human Maidan is seething. I’m scared that some bastard will give the order to open fire on these people. But I know that I’ll get dressed, go out to the Maidan, and simply stop being afraid. These was no longer any fear on the Maidan.

And I hope that everyone has a chance to experience what those people who stood on the Maidan experienced, regardless of the political consequences.

And when I’m asked today if I’d go out to the Maidan again if it were to repeat this way, without even thinking, I would say: I would be the first one there….and I also know that those people who are publicly repenting for participating in the Orange Revolution and say that "never again - no way, no how" they would also be there. Because that’s what the heart tells you to do...Because hope and faith never disappear.

Today Ukraine is different. It will never be the way it was before the Maidan.

Yanukovych didn’t understand back then that he didn’t just lose the 2004 presidential election, he lost all future elections. Because in a new Ukraine, Ukraine "after Maidan' there can’t be a president like that...

And in closing I want to amuse you a bit. Recently the former head of the CEC (Central Election Commission) and today deputy from the Party of Regions Serhiy Kivalov said in an interview that he’s confident in Yanukovych’s victory because "Viktor Federovych (Yanukovych) is a phenomenally lucky person…"

You really have to have a great sense of imagination to call a person who was in jail twice, who out of fear gave up the prime minister’s post and once the presidency "lucky"...

This reminded me of a joke. There’s a sign: lost dog. Identifying marks: one eye, limps on his hind leg, one ear is partially bitten off - nothing else, three scars on his face. Answers to "Lucky"...

And seriously, no country would ever elect someone with a record like Yanukovych.

They didn’t elect him in 2004, and won’t now, because Ukraine will never tolerate such humiliation.

We should never give up. Ukraine is worth fighting for.

The Maidan was not in vain. It was a true revolution of sprit. But today I clearly understand that it was a big mistake to relegate to someone else the most important event in rebuilding a strong Ukraine, even on the Maidan. If you want to do something on a high scale - do it yourself.

Therefore, in 2010 I won’t put my trust in anyone else - I’ll do it myself.

And one more thing. The country will not return to its oligarchic past. I simply won’t allow it!

Ukraine has changed. It has become a country of free and strong people. And starting next year we will restore clear and democratic order.

Best wish on this holiday.

Congratulations on Freedom Day! On the Day of our Maidan!

Yulia Tymoshenko’s Day of Freedom address. Video