Ambassador: UK proud to be alongside building democratic Ukraine

The United Kingdom is proud to be alongside Ukraine building a free democracy, said Melinda Simmons, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to Ukraine.

"Happy Dignity and Freedom Day, Ukraine! British Ambassador Melinda Simmons: My 2nd Dignity and Freedom Day in Ukraine. For Ukrainians these are not just words but values they have fought hard for. The UK is proud to be alongside Ukraine building a free, democratic country," the UK’s Embassy in Ukraine posted on Facebook.

On Saturday, November 21, Ukraine marks the Day of Dignity and Freedom.

The holiday was established in accordance with the presidential decree of November 13, 2014 in honour of the commencement on this day of two significant and fateful events in contemporary Ukrainian history - the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2013 Revolution of Dignity.

The Day of Dignity and Freedom became a kind of successor to the Freedom Day holiday, which was celebrated in honour of the Orange Revolution on November 22 from 2005 to 2011 but was later cancelled.

It was on November 21, 2013, when Ukrainians started to hold the first protest rallies in response to the decision of the then government to stop the country's movement towards European integration and freeze preparations for the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The change in the legislatively enshrined priorities of Ukraine's foreign policy triggered the indignation of Ukrainians.

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