Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to receive Four Freedoms Award in Middelburg

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine is set to attend the Four Freedoms Awards ceremony in Middelburg on Thursday, according to an announcement by the Government Information Service (RVD). King Willem-Alexander, Princess Beatrix, and Prime Minister Rob Jetten are also expected to attend the event.

At the Nieuwe Kerk, Zelensky will be presented with the International Four Freedoms Award, an honor awarded to him and the Ukrainian people for their “courageous fight for freedom and democracy under extremely challenging conditions.” The awards recognize individuals and organizations dedicated to protecting freedom and human rights. Following the ceremony, Zelensky is scheduled to meet with the king and Prime Minister Jetten.

Zelensky has visited the Netherlands on multiple occasions, including for last year’s NATO summit. During those visits, he was received more than once by King Willem-Alexander at Huis ten Bosch Palace.

The Four Freedoms Award that Zelensky will receive is also a message to the United States, according to the chair of the foundation that presents the prize. Roosevelt Foundation chair Hugo de Jonge noted that the prize commemorates a former American president who managed to rally a hesitant nation behind the effort to liberate Europe.

On the eve of the ceremony, De Jonge pointed to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s role in overcoming U.S. isolationism, noting that the award is named after one of his landmark speeches.

According to De Jonge, the specter of Americans turning inward and leaving the rest of the world to its fate must once again be resisted. Just as in the time of “FDR,” who decided to send American troops to Europe to drive out the Nazis. “That meaning can and may be attached to it.”

De Jonge, who is also King’s Commissioner of Zeeland, hopes the award also conveys that Zelensky and the Ukrainians are not alone. “Their struggle is also ours, their fight for freedom.” He said he “can hardly imagine what the president and his people have been going through for more than four years.” But it must sometimes feel lonely, De Jonge added. He hopes that “they feel seen.”

That the Ukrainian president is coming to Middelburg in person to receive the award is “extremely important,” De Jonge said. “Also for the Netherlands. He and the Ukrainian people are such a symbol of the defense of our freedoms, especially at a time when they are under pressure.”

The situation also offers lessons for the Netherlands, according to De Jonge. “Freedom is not free. There is a responsibility, a task for us.” And that requires sacrifices, the former minister said.