This year’s Stanisław Vincenz Prize “For Humanistic Service and a Contribution to Regional Development” was awarded to a volunteer, paramedic, commander of the “Angels of Taira” unit – Yuliia Paievska “Taira”.
“I once got hold of an interesting piece of oriental medicine. There was a phrase there that there is nothing in the world that cannot become a medicine. Thinking about it, I thought that there is one more thing that fits these criteria. There is nothing in the world that cannot become a weapon. First of all, for me, weapons are culture. Like medicine, – shared paramedic Yuliia Paievska “Taira” during the presentation of the Vincenz Prize as part of Via Carpatia. – Let culture become our weapon, and weapons – medicine against the Moscow plague. And let these two things show the world the greatness and beauty of the Ukrainian soul.”
Yuliia Paievska dedicated her award, in particular, to Volodymyr Vakulenko, a children’s writer tortured by the occupiers.
“Recently, the body of Volodymyr Vakulenko, killed by the occupiers, was found in Izyum. He is a children’s writer… I don’t think I deserve this great award. But I accept it as a great honor and dedicate it to Volodymyr Vakulenko and all cultural figures who were murdered and killed by the Moscow occupiers.” – said Taira.
“When we conceived this award, we really wanted us to realize the importance of two things. The first, of course, is democracy. Because what is happening now is obviously a struggle against the destruction of Ukraine by the imperial center, but it is also actually the beginning of a world war of authoritarianism against democracy, – said Mykola Kniazhytskyi during the presentation of the prize named after the Polish writer and translator Stanisław Vincenz. – We are called to put an end to authoritarianism in the world. We are Ukrainians, as a nation. As a nation that knows how to love, as a nation that has always understood what democracy is, throughout its history. Because for us, democracy is also everyone’s freedom, and it was not by chance that we named this award after Stanisław Vincenz”.
The Stanisław Vincenz Prize “For Humanistic Service and a Contribution to Regional Development” is awarded for the fifth time to Forum of Central and Eastern Europe Via Carpatia.
The award ceremony took place at the Frank House in Lviv. This year’s award is primarily about how Ukrainians put an end to authoritarianism in Ukraine and in the world.
You can watch the story of the Espreso TV channel about the award ceremony at link
Organizers:
NGO “All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum”, NGO “Verkhovyna – Flower of the Carpathians”, Frank House in Lviv, Espreso TV channel.
Photo: Natalia Yasinevych
