AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNIST RULE IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE EVENTUAL BREAKUP OF THE FAILED EMPIRE OF THE SOVIET UNION IN FAVOR OF A DEMOCRATIC FUTURE, ENDING A BRUTAL TOTALITARIAN REGIME WHOSE CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY COST THE LIVES OF MILLIONS, THE PARLIAMENT OF UKRAINE FORMALLY DECLARED AN INDEPENDENT UKRAINIAN STATE ON AUGUST 24TH, 1991.
AFTER CENTURIES OF COLONIAL RULE, UNDER BOTH THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND ITS SOVIET TOTALITARIAN SUCCESSOR, TODAY UNFORTUNATELY, THE FREEDOM-LOVING NATION OF UKRAINE ONCE AGAIN FACES A HOSTILE AUTHORITARIAN REGIME BENT ON DESTROYING ITS INDEPENDENCE THROUGH THE USE OF ECONOMIC COERCION, CYBERWAR, SOPHISTICATED MEDIA AND INFORMATION WARFARE, AND ULTIMATELY MILITARY ASSAULTS.
WHILE A PORTION OF UKRAINE’S TERRITORY IS CURRENTLY UNDER FOREIGN OCCUPATION, WE RECOGNIZE THE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF UKRAINE AS SOVEREIGN AND INVIOLABLE, AND HONOR THE EFFORTS AND SACRIFICE OF THOSE UNDER DIRECT THREAT FROM RUSSIA’S UNRELENTING AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, INCLUDING THE INDIGENOUS CRIMEAN TATAR PEOPLE, WHOSE LANGUAGE, RIGHTS AND CULTURE ARE BEING THREATENED TODAY, MUCH AS THEY WERE DURING THE SOVIET AND TSARIST REGIMES WHEN ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO ERADICATE THEM.
THE UKRAINE FREEDOM SUPPORT ACT SIGNED INTO LAW BY PRESIDENT OBAMA EXPRESSES THE WILL OF THE UNITED STATES TO ASSIST THE GOVERNMENT OF UKRAINE TO PRESERVE ITS SOVEREIGNTY AND TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND TO DETER THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION FROM FURTHER DESTABILIZING AND INVADING UKRAINE AND OTHER INDEPENDENT NATIONS IN THE REGION.
THE UNITED STATES HAS BENEFITED TREMENDOUSLY FROM THE INNOVATIVE SPIRIT, RICH CULTURE, AND DETERMINED WORK ETHIC OF OUR UKRAINIAN RESIDENTS, WHO SHARE OUR COLLECTIVE VALUES OF FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY AND THE RULE OF LAW. UKRAINE HAS ALWAYS HAD A SPECIAL BOND WITH THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP, A 20-YEAR WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH NATO, SENDING UKRAINIAN SERVICEMEN TO SERVE ALONGSIDE U.S. FORCES IN THEATERS SUCH AS AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ, AND THE U.S. ARMY 173RD BRIGADE TRAINING UKRAINE’S NATIONAL GUARD IN MODERN WARFARE TACTICS.
NOW THEREFORE, I, MANUEL FIGUEIREDO, MAYOR OF THE TOWNSHIP OF UNION, IN THE COUNTY OF UNION, STATE OF NEW JERSEY, ON BEHALF OF ITS CITIZENS, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM AUGUST 24, 2015 AS “TWENTY-FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY” AND URGE ALL CITIZENS TO JOIN IN COMMEMORATING THIS MOMENTOUS EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UKRAINIAN NATION. ON THIS DAY, LET US RECOMMIT OURSELVES TO HELPING THE UKRAINIAN NATION RECLAIM ITS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN THE INTERNAL DEMOCRATIC COMMUNITY AND REMEMBER THE HEAVENLY HUNDRED AND THOUSANDS OF OTHER HEROES WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES TO ENSURE FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.