Deputies of the Lviv Regional Council have adopted a statement stressing the inadmissibility of external pressure on Ukraine’s state policy in the sphere of commemorating those who fought for independence.
The document emphasises that shaping national memory, defining the Ukrainian pantheon of Heroes and honouring the fighters for freedom is the exclusive right of the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian people.
“No foreign state, no political figure or external institution has the moral or legal right to decide whom Ukrainians should honour as their Heroes. Just as Ukraine does not interfere in the shaping of the historical memory of other nations, we expect the same respect for our own sovereign right”
The appeal notes that Lviv region has been and remains one of the centres for preserving Ukrainian national memory, and that honouring the fighters for freedom is regarded as a matter of historical justice, national dignity and respect for those who gave their lives for Ukrainian statehood.
The deputies called on Ukraine’s international partners to build relations on the principles of mutual respect, equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states, and to leave the difficult pages of shared history to scholarly discussion rather than political pressure.
The initiators of the statement were all the heads of the deputy factions of the Lviv Regional Council.