Ukraine marks first anniversary of Euromaidan protests

Friday, November 21, 2014 - 12:29 (EET) Section: Latest news

Euromaidan protests began in Ukraine on November 21, 2013, which are now called the Revolution of Dignity.
On that day, journalists and people not indifferent to the fate of the country gathered on Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) in Kyiv to protest against the refusal by the government led by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union.
Later, multi-thousand rallies spread throughout Ukraine and escalated into an armed confrontation between the government and citizens. More than a hundred people were killed in Kyiv’s riots.
After a series of demands by protesters and the opposition to the government caused by bloody clashes on February 18-20, 2014, security forces began to slowly retreat. Many MPs started leaving the Party of Regions faction in the Verkhovna Rada. This resulted in the resumption of the work of the parliament, which unanimously approved a number of fateful decisions for the country that stopped the confrontation.
“It was a very difficult test for Ukraine… I, as president of Ukraine, have only to document it and sign a decree on the Day of Dignity and Freedom, which Ukrainians will now and forever mark on November 21… Ukraine is a territory of dignity and freedom,” Poroshenko said.
Earlier, the Freedom Day was marked in Ukraine on November 22, starting in 2005, under a decree signed by President Viktor Yushchenko – on the first anniversary of the Orange Revolution.