Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be honoured by the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute with the same prestigious award once given to former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev and former UK prime minister Dame Margaret Thatcher.
According to a news release from the foundation, Mr Zelensky will be the 11th world leader to receive the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award “for his courageous fight against tyranny and for his indomitable stance for freedom and democracy”.
The foundation said the former actor and comedian, who gained prominence while playing a fictitious president of Ukraine before being elected to the real-life presidency in 2019, “follows in a long line of world leaders who, like Ronald Reagan, have contributed greatly to the cause of freedom worldwide”, including Mr Gorbachev, who the late president personally presented with the award in 1992.
In a statement, institute chairman Fred Ryan, said: “The world applauds President Zelenskyy and all that he stands for – democracy, individual liberty, freedom, and hope … the values and principles that Ronald Reagan fought for all his life and what his foundation promotes today.”
“President Zelenskyy s devotion to the cause of freedom is truly a symbol of man s highest aspiration,” he added.
Mr Ryan said he had notified Mr Zelensky of the news through a letter delivered to Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, Oksana Markova.
Other world leaders who’ve been so honoured include Dame Margaret, former president George HW Bush, Polish president Lech Walesa, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Soviet dissident turned Israeli politician Natan Sharansky.
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