By Anthony Deutsch
MIDDELBURG, Netherlands, April 16 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday held a moment of silence for victims of extensive overnight Russian air attacks as he accepted the International Four Freedoms Award on behalf of the Ukrainian people for their courage during years of war.
The award, presented in the Netherlands, was inspired by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 speech outlining four fundamental human rights: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
The Roosevelt Foundation said the 2026 prize was given to Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian people in “recognition for their courageous struggle for our freedom and democracy under exceptionally difficult circumstances.”
Citing the hardships endured by his people, Zelenskiy said that the freedom to live without fear must not be taken for granted.
“This fundamental freedom we still lack. Freedom from ruins, freedom from those who bring ruins, freedom from those who seek to destroy everything that matters to normal people,” he said.
Calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a global threat, he appealed to the international community to maintain its military, political and legal support for Ukraine.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions, and devastated Ukrainian cities since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.
A ceremony in the historic southern town of Middelburg was attended by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Rob Jetten. Roosevelt’s family has roots in the Netherlands and his granddaughter Anne Roosevelt attended the event, saying Ukraine’s war shows that the fight for freedom is still as alive today as it was 80 years ago.
Other 2026 laureates included the Committee to Protect Journalists, for Freedom of Speech, and activist Gisele Pelicot, the French woman whose husband was convicted of inviting dozens of men to rape her unconscious body, for Freedom from Fear.
The organization said the recipient of the Freedom of Worship award could not be named due to security concerns, while Chilean activist Isidora Uribe Silva won the award for Freedom from Want.
Past recipients of the awards include former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and late South African President Nelson Mandela.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch, editing by Bart Meijer, Inti Landauro, Philippa Fletcher)
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