In 2022, Ukraine lodged a formal request to join the European Union, a mere four days after the catastrophic full-blown invasion by Russia. However, the earliest they may become a fully functioning member may not be prior to 2030, if at all. This protracted process may appear unjust given Ukraine’s historical ties with Europe and the heavy sacrifice it has made in pursuit of its European ambitions.
The medieval state of Kyivan Rus was established in the late 9th century by Vikings originating from what is now known as Sweden. Under the powerful reign of Grand Prince Yaroslav the Wise during its peak in the 11th century, Kyiv became the grandest capital throughout Europe, second only to Constantinople. Beyond the two city walls thrived hundreds of golden church domes, and Yaroslav’s court hosted renowned poets and musicians. Yaroslav’s wife was none other than Ingegerd, the Swedish king’s daughter, who is referred to as Iryna by Ukrainians.
Their daughters, Elizabeth, Anastasia, and Anna became queens by marrying the kings of Norway, Hungary, and France. It is also believed that a fourth daughter, Agatha, married into the English royal family. For this reason, Ukrainians commonly refer to Yaroslav as the “father-in-law of Europe”.
Kyiv acted as a hub where trade routes from western Europe, Asia, and Arabia intersected. In 1048, King Henri I of France sent a representative to Yaroslav to request his youngest daughter’s hand in marriage at a time when Kyiv significantly outshone France. Another French diplomat accompanied Anna, or Anne de Kiev as the French called her, on her journey from the Dnipro River to her wedding and coronation in Reims, bringing exotic dowries including bearskins, Persian silk, Armenian scents, caviar, and vodka.
However, the prosperous Kyivan Rus dynasty came to an abrupt end when Kyiv was plundered by the Mongols in 1240. The Mongols exploit didn’t end there, they also attacked the principality of Muscovy, effectively isolating what is now Russia for over two centuries and arguably introducing their warlike tendencies.
Ukraine’s past is deeply intertwined with not only the Mongols, Cossacks, Russians, Slavs, and Turks, but its citizens have consistently looked to Europe as the embodiment of culture, democracy, wealth, and human rights.
It was an impossibility for the Mongols to sever the connection between Kyiv and the rest of Europe. From the 16th to the 18th century, the area we now know as Ukraine was under the control of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until the arrival of Austro-Hungarians who took control over western Ukraine leading up to World War one.
The Swedish King Charles XII forged an alliance with the Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa, but their forces fell to Russian czar Peter I in the Battle of Poltava in 1709. Peter’s adoption of the name ‘Russia’ from ‘Kyivan Rus’ is still a point of contention for Ukrainians who believe their historical identity was misappropriated.
Sweden and Ukraine’s shared history is symbolised in their similar blue and yellow flags. Sweden remains one of Ukraine’s most reliable allies in its conflict with Russia.
In the 19th century, countries like Belgium, Britain, France and Germany industrialised the eastern Donbas region. Direct train services operated between Brussels and Donbas, giving it the nickname – ‘the tenth province of Belgium’. The city of Donetsk was established by the British, and Welsh native John Hughes constructed a metallurgical plant that was the primary source of iron for the Russian empire.
Ukraine boasts a multicultural historical backdrop with influences from Mongols, Cossacks, Russians, Slavs, and Turks. Despite this, many Ukrainians view Europe as a symbol of culture, democracy, wealth and human rights.
Constantin Sigov, a Ukrainian philosopher and professor at Kyiv-Mohyla, Ukraine’s oldest university established in 1615, amplifies the European connection. His publishing house, Spirit and Letter, is devoted to translating European texts into Ukrainian. He recalls how, in the 17th century, subjects at his university were taught in Latin, demonstrating that Kyiv has long been an epicentre of baroque art, enlightened thinking, and romantic literature.
Moreover, Sigov disputes Russia’s ongoing portrayal of Ukraine as a nation of Nazi collaborators. He underscores Ukraine’s role in WWII, stating that Ukraine embodies the spirit of resilience in the face of Europe’s most horrifying upheaval. He echoes the sentiments of Timothy Snyder, a renowned historian of Ukraine from Yale, who brought up these points in a speech to the Bundestag.
Snyder’s findings underlined that Ukraine was the primary war goal for Hitler. The Nazis held sway over the whole of Soviet Ukraine for the majority of the war. The most significant casualty country in Europe at the hands of nazism was Soviet Ukraine, with 3.5 million civilians, mainly women and children, being murdered. Approximately 3 million Ukrainian servicemen lost their lives fighting for the Red Army.
Despite this, Russia still fosters the misbelief that Ukraine was a nation of accomplices and has been, and continues to be, ruled by Nazis. “A greater number of Ukrainians battled and perished on the side of the allies than the total of French, British and Americans,” stated Snyder. Regarding collaboration with the Nazis, he further noted, “Collaboration was also seen amongst Russians, Belarusians, and Crimean Tatars. More Ukrainians fell battling the Wehrmacht than partnered with them.”
The columnist David Rieff gave his insights on Ukraine, Gaza, populism, and the demise of art.
A larger number of Russians fought for the collaborationist “Russian Liberation Army”, guided by Andrey Vlasov, who betrayed the Red Army, than Ukrainians who aligned with the Nazis, as highlighted by Sigov. Ukrainians combated the “double totalitarianism” of nazism and Soviet oppression deep into the mid-century.
In January’s seminar at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, Sigov cited Paul Valéry’s thoughts after the conclusion of World War I, “We now understand our civilisation’s mortality.” President Emmanuel Macron echoed this sentiment in his Sorbonne speech on April 25th, saying, “Our Europe faces the possibility of demise.”
Sigov argues that Europeans, considering their Union as a sanctuary of peace, had nearly surrendered the necessity to oppose totalitarianism. The Ukrainian conflict has brought this back into focus. Ukraine’s defiance is the remedy to Europe’s forgetfulness in this regard, making Ukraine an essential part of Europe’s identity and future.