Commentary

Ottawa – On February 19, 2019 Etobicoke Centre MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj addressed the Special Session of the Verkhovna Rada dedicated to the fifth anniversary of the commencement of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.

 Wrzesnewskyj, appearing as the Chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association and the Chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, was invited by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Andriy Parubiy, to deliver remarks to the Special Session and to witness the historic signing of a constitutional amendment strategically committing Ukraine on the paths toward both EU and NATO memberships.

 “I was deeply honoured to have been invited to represent Canada and to address this Special Session of the Verkhovna Rada during a critical juncture in Ukraine’s future and for the future of liberal democracy,” said Wrzesnewskyj.

 In his remarks, Wrzesnewskyj compared the threat to Western liberal democracies by the Kremlin’s expansionist Leninist-Stalinist ideology of the post-World War II era with the Kremlin’s current neo-imperialistic revanchist Putinism. An important historical parallel was drawn with Mr. Wrzesnewskyj noting that in 1955 many opposed West Germany’s accession into NATO at a time when one-third of German territory was occupied by Soviet forces similar to arguments made today in regards to Ukraine’s situation with Russia’s occupation of Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine. He underscored that today Ukrainian soldiers are not only bravely defending their homeland, but are a living shield for Europe’s liberal democracies.

 The memorable day began with Ukraine’s President, Petro Poroshenko, who was followed by Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Volodymyr Groysman, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, representatives of the three Baltic states and Poland, and Wrzesnewskyj from Canada.