Why Europe Needs Ukraine

If you want to know how powerful the European dream still is, don’t go to Paris or Rome, Brussels or Berlin—go to Kyiv. Last October, I visited the city to speak with young and ambitious Ukrainians. They told me of their deepest wish for their country: membership in the European Union.

For these young people, the EU was synonymous with democracy and freedom, progress and prosperity. When I told them that most students in my native country, the Netherlands, find the EU boring and bureaucratic, they reacted with disbelief. In the past few weeks, I have thought a lot about those Ukrainian students. What we take for granted, they and their compatriots have been willing to die for.

Since the start of the Russian invasion, in February, millions of Ukrainians have fought not only for their own country, but also for Europe. They have given the EU a powerful reminder of why it was founded in the first place.

After World War