The Ambassador of Ukraine took part in celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the settlement on the Green Continent, which took place in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, and one of the Australian cities where Ukrainians live the most compact.
The Ambassador of Ukraine took part in celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the settlement on the Green Continent, which took place in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, and one of the Australian cities where Ukrainians live the most compact.
In his welcoming remarks to the participants of the meeting, the ambassador emphasized:
“Dear Ukrainian community,
I sincerely congratulate all the representatives of Australian Ukrainians who gathered for today's “Zdvig” on the 70th settlement of Ukrainians in Australia!
Despite the fact that the Ukrainian community in Australia is one of the youngest in the world, its contribution to the restoration of Ukraine's independence, the development of our homeland and the preservation of national-cultural identity and traditions of our people is a good example for imitation.
Your ability to mobilize your efforts in a difficult time for Ukraine, to speak with one voice, to feel and respond to the cry of the Motherland is the main advantage of the Ukrainian community in Australia and the key to its successful development in the future.
Today, the Ukrainian state and the embassy are especially in need of your unity, strength and capacity to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, political and economic transformation, and the implementation of the strategic course of our state.
Thank you all and everyone who helps Ukraine in word or in deed, in business or in prayer.
Let's be strong! Let's beunited!
May God bless all of us.
I wish the Ukrainians of Australia health and prosperity."
Ukrainian high officials also greeted Australian Ukrainians with the 70th anniversary of the settlement on the Green Continent.
Particularly, the President, Petro Poroshenko, emphasized that "Ukraine appreciates your efforts to reproduce Ukrainian identity and the particle of our native land in Australia."
In the congratulatory address of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine it is stated: "Being in one of the most remote corners of the world, the community formed a powerful infrastructure of cultural-educational, scientific and religious institutions, established a book publishing in the Ukrainian language, launched an active campaign to popularize Ukrainian culture, language, history and thus joined the formation of a positive image of Ukraine as a democratic and European country with long historical roots."
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy noted that thanks to the Ukrainian community Australia was among the first states that recognized the independence of Ukraine and, at the parliamentary level, called the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as a genocide of Ukrainians.