Without a Free Ukraine, No Free Europe
On August 24, Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day – in the fifth year of a war that has been imposed on it and that it is fighting with remarkable resilience. This fills us with pride: for a country that refuses to be subdued, and for people who continue to live, work, love, raise their children, and preserve their culture under fire, as if it were a matter of course. It is not.
This pride is inseparably linked to gratitude. Germany has stood by Ukraine during this time – with weapons, with shelter, with political support that was not a given. Millions of people found a roof over their heads here, children a school, families a breather from fear. For this, we sincerely thank you, without ifs and buts.
And yet, when one pauses and thinks honestly, an uncomfortable question arises: Have we – Ukrainians and Germans – really understood what is at stake in these five years? It is easy to show solidarity when it costs little. It is harder to maintain it when war becomes part of everyday life, when news from Ukraine fades into the background, when fatigue masquerades as realism. It is precisely at this moment – not at the beginning of a war, but in its fifth year – that it becomes clear whether a partnership endures or was merely a reaction.
For this war is not a Ukrainian affair that can be followed from a safe distance. It determines the security order in which Germany and Europe will also live. What is defended at the Ukrainian front is not a foreign border – it is the border on which Europe's own security depends. Recognizing this does not require sentimentality, just a clear view of the map and recent history.
Therefore, it holds true: This challenge can only be met together. Not as help from the outside for a country in need, but as a joint task of two partners who – often only through this war – have learned how closely their futures are intertwined. Ukraine is now also giving something back that cannot be measured in arms deliveries: experience, resilience, the knowledge of what defense truly means in the 21st century.
On this Independence Day, there is therefore, alongside joy and gratitude, a moment of reflection: about what has already been achieved together and about what further joint effort is needed to ensure that this pride endures.
Without a free Ukraine, there is no free Europe. This is not a formula – this is the situation we face together.