My dear Ukrainian people!
Esteemed guests!
Dear community!
I have come to you from the hall of the Verkhovna Rada. There I pronounced the solemn words of the oath, written in the Constitution. They have remained unchanged. But Ukraine has become different, and we have become different.
We have thrown off the burden of the past from our shoulders. No one will dare to tell us anymore – how to live, whom to elect.
I became President by the will of the Ukrainian people. We are with you – its sons and daughters. I want to speak today, looking you in the eyes. It is a great honor to address free people who hold the fate of their country in their hands.
I want, before the face of the people, to continue my oath. I swear – we will change our lives.
My victory is the victory of the entire Ukrainian people and of every citizen individually.
I thank for it the Lord God, who gave us Faith, Hope and Love. By them we conquered. I pray that we preserve them forever in our hearts.
I thank the Ukrainian people for their high trust.
I thank each and every one who responded to my words "I believe in Ukraine. I know my duty. Together we will win." You opened the road to the future for your country.
I thank each and every citizen, whomever they voted for. My victory is the victory of all. Everyone has the right to seek a path for the country. Everyone has the right to choose those political colors that are close to them.
But, dear friends, dear Ukrainians, our common choice is the colors of the Ukrainian flag, it unites all of us who live in the east, in the west, in the north and in the south.
I thank my team, which worked for victory. You, my dear brothers-in-arms, were unwavering on the road traveled together. I believe – you will be tireless in the work that awaits us ahead.
I thank my family, my wife, children and grandchildren. You were with me in the hardest days. You are with me today at the celebration. I believe – you will always be my hope and support.
A low bow for the lessons to my father, Yushchenko Andriy Andriyovych, a teacher from the small Sumy village of Khoruzhivka, a prisoner of Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau. My father's truth led me through life and led me to the high honor of standing at the head of my country. I thank my mother – Varvara Tymofiivna for the love and prayer that protected me. I ask her forgiveness for all the pain that her maternal heart had to endure, especially in the last four months.
Dear friends! I am proud to stand together with you in this place!
Two months ago, millions of people came out to this Maidan, to the squares and streets throughout Ukraine. Our brothers and sisters, parents and children, friends and neighbors stood day and night, in snow and frost. Ukraine caught every movement and every word spoken here. The heart of Ukraine beat in this place. Free people of the whole world, our compatriots scattered across distant lands, stood shoulder to shoulder with us. On Independence Square, Ukrainians appeared before the world as a modern Ukrainian nation.
Courageous resistance awakened our souls. All of us felt ourselves citizens of Ukraine. Dignity, nobility and mercy awoke in us. Armed only with faith and conviction, the people achieved a beautiful peaceful victory. This is the victory of freedom over tyranny, of right over lawlessness, of the future over the past.
Every citizen of Ukraine became a winner. We achieved honest elections and on December 26 we did not miss our destiny. We freely chose the path we are ready to follow forward and upward.
Our choice was prepared by our entire history.
We chose prosperity, because poverty cannot humiliate the land first plowed by the farmer's plow in human history.
We chose justice, because lawlessness cannot become the norm in a state where a thousand years ago the code of laws – "Ruska Pravda" – was concluded.
We chose freedom, because tyranny cannot rule over the heirs of the Cossack republic, where even three hundred years ago the first Constitution in the world was written.
We chose independence, because we are the descendants of generations who for centuries dreamed of a Ukrainian state, who won freedom through sweat and blood.
The Ukrainian state has come into being. Our choice confirmed this once again. Our victory is a celebration of Ukrainian statehood. On this day let us remember the heroes who fell for Victory, the martyrs of Auschwitz and the GULAGs, the victims of the Holodomors, deportations and the Holocaust. They see us today, from heaven, I am convinced, they are proud of us!
We made our choice because we remember who we are, whose children and grandchildren. It is not in the past that we should seek answers to the challenge of the future. However, we will always cherish our sources. Only so will we remain ourselves. Only so will we always be victors!
Our choice gave rise to high hopes. They are just. They are absolutely real.
For success we have everything. The riches of our land are inexhaustible. The talents of our compatriots are honored by the whole world. Through work and will we will achieve everything!
I am the President of all Ukraine. I am responsible for ensuring that the mines of Donbas and Prydniprovia work, the ports of the Black Sea and Galician trade routes. I will do everything so that peasants in Slobozhanshchyna and Podillia always have bread. The wealth of Ukraine is the wealth of its regions. I swear to preserve and multiply it!
We, the citizens of Ukraine, have become a united Ukrainian nation. We cannot be divided by the languages we speak, nor by the faiths we profess, nor by the political views we choose. We have one Ukrainian destiny. We have one Ukrainian pride. We are proud that we are Ukrainians!
We have already taken an irreversible step toward democracy. Only democracy protects what is most precious to a person – family and children, peace and tranquility, work and prosperity. Only in a democratic state are human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity the highest values. Only in a democratic Ukraine will the bright palette of languages, cultures and views become the wealth of this country.
I swear – everyone will be able to teach their child in the language of their parents. Everyone will be able to pray in their own church. Everyone will be guaranteed the right to their own opinion. We will hear each other, because we will have freedom of speech and an independent press. All will be equal before the law. An independent court will protect everyone's rights. I see Ukraine as a state governed by the rule of law.
We will create democratic power – honest, professional and necessarily patriotic.
The wall that separates officials from the people will be destroyed. The renewed government will know its duty, will work for the benefit of the citizen and the country. To be both in power and in opposition will become equally honorable – if you serve your country. We will have moral power capable of uniting society.
Only in unity and only in democracy will we solve our national tasks. You told me about this at thousands of meetings. I will fulfill your will.
You want to have work and a decent salary, it pains you to leave your family in search of work abroad.
We will create jobs. Everyone who wants to work will receive work and a decent salary. Nothing will limit your initiative, your desire to provide prosperity for your families. Everyone who gives work to another will be supported. Honest work will be respected.
We will become a prosperous nation.
You seek justice.
I will do everything so that no one is left deprived. The fruits of economic growth will become accessible to all. We will move forward, but we will not leave behind those who are ill, who are tired in their old age. The government will give the people the budget to the last penny. Pensions, benefits, and the scope of social programs will constantly grow. Human health, the protection of mother and child will become the highest priorities. We will become a solidarity nation.
You strive to free yourselves from constant extortions. You want to live and work honestly, to legally receive the money you earn.
We will destroy the system of corruption in the country, we will bring the economy out of the shadows. Taxes will be lowered, but everyone will pay them. Business will be separated from power. The budget will no longer be a feeding trough for anyone. Only those whose expenditures correspond to declared incomes will work in state positions.
We will become an honest nation.
You want to be masters where you live. You do not want everything to be decided for you in high offices. We will return rights to local communities. The community itself will bring order to the street, village or city. You yourselves will choose your leader, earn the money yourselves and spend it yourselves. We will be a nation of self-governing communities.
You demand the protection of children from corruption, you strive to live not by bread alone. We will protect our spiritual heritage. Together with you I will tirelessly tend the garden of Ukrainian culture, preserve its ancient and young trees. Our roots will not let the winds of history drive us like a tumbleweed. Our culture will force the world to see our uniqueness. We will be a nation of high culture!
We will be a modern nation – in the dynamic global world we will become equal among equals. The future of Ukraine is the best education, high science, the technologies of tomorrow. I will do everything so that the intellect of our nation works at full strength. We will become first and we will become the best!
Ukrainians will take a worthy place in the community of nations. Ukraine will be neither a buffer nor a field of someone else's contests. We are ready to respect the interests of other states. But for me, as for you, the national interests of Ukraine are above all!
We greet all our neighbors, both in the East and in the West, with goodness and respect. I will do everything for the development of stable cooperation with all countries. Ukraine will become a reliable partner in the fight against old and new threats: tyranny, war, poverty, natural disasters and terrorism. The common search for paths to security and prosperity is also a Ukrainian responsibility. We are ready for it.
Our path to the future is the path that the United Europe is taking. We and its peoples belong to one civilization, share the same values. History, economic prospects, people's interests give a clear answer to the question – where we should seek our destiny. Our place is in the European Union. My goal is Ukraine in a United Europe.
In Europe is Ukraine's historic chance to reveal its possibilities. Our national strategy is to go toward the goal boldly, directly and persistently. European standards will become the norm in social life, the economy and Ukrainian politics. Every step toward Europe is new opportunities for millions of Ukrainians.
Not long ago, joining the EU seemed to many a very distant prospect. But free European peoples have more than once accelerated time. The fragments of the Berlin Wall, the round table in Warsaw and our Maidan in Kyiv became symbols of rapid change. Ukraine is opening the history of Europe of the third millennium. We are no longer the outskirts of Europe. We are located in the center of Europe.
Dear friends! We set ambitious tasks before ourselves. I am convinced to my last cell – soon they will turn into glorious deeds. I will do everything so that Ukrainians, all without exception, believe in their own strength, believe in their country, believe in their land. We have already proven that we know how both to dream boldly and to work persistently. We are ready for self-sacrifice and capable of achieving success!
We are beginning a new page of Ukrainian history. It will be beautiful. It will tell about our unity, about our courage, about our readiness to support one another. In our history a special place belongs to this Kyiv Maidan. Here we will multiply our strength and share joy. This Maidan is a symbol of a free nation that believes in its strength and itself creates its own future. Above us the national blue-and-yellow flag will always shine. Above us the national anthem will always sound in millions of voices.
Everything conceived will come true. Believe in Ukraine, love Ukraine, serve Ukraine!
Glory to you, each one, glory to the Lord God and glory to Ukraine!