European Youth Forum supports young Ukrainians in their struggle

As the tragic news came out this week that three young Ukrainians have been killed – two on the streets of Kyiv and one found, apparently tortured and then killed, his body abandoned in forests outside the city - The European Youth Forum wants to state its support and stand in solidarity with young Ukrainians, whose human rights are being stamped upon and whose voices are not being heard.

As the political talks seem to have reached an impasse, the Ukrainian government needs to listen to the voice of its people, many of whom are young people who are simply laying claim to their democratic right to protest.

The huge force of public feeling since Ukrainian President Yanukovich backed away from signing a free trade deal and an association agreement with the European Union in November in favour of financial aid from Russia has seen hundreds of thousands taking to the streets of Kyiv, many of them young activists. The movement has since widened into broader protests against perceived misrule and corruption in the Yanukovich leadership.

The European Youth Forum is seriously concerned about the anti-prostest legislation which was pushed through the Ukrainian parliament last week. It is outrageous that a democratically elected government can quash its people’s legitimate right to protest.

We at the European Youth Forum support Ukrainian’s right to choose closer ties to Europe and their right to peaceful protest against their government without fear of, not just violence, but torture and death. The scenes we have witnessed in Kyiv in recent week are abhorrent and entirely unacceptable.

Peter Matjašič, President of the European Youth Forum