Professor Rafał Witkowski, AMU Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, received an Honorary Doctorate from the Ukrainian National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy on Saturday, 28 June.
Receiving the distinction, he remarked:
"Although I have given many public speeches while fulfilling various duties at my university, today I am touched. The circumstances and timing of my visit to Kyiv are exceptional. For many years, the Ukrainian nation has been defending its independence, fighting for a new and better Ukraine. Thousands of individuals have given the greatest sacrifice of their lives, including the students, alumni and employees of your university. In such difficult times, you find the strength and motivation to live a normal life at the university. The college, which was founded in 1632 by Petro Mohyla and later elevated to the status of an academy in 1658, was a unique university where people came together in the challenging times of the 17th century to learn about the traditions of the Eastern and Western Church, to discuss the essential values of civilisation, to seek a way to educate the spirit and mind of a new generation that would be guided by Christian values, respect and understanding of other human beings."
"Today, this magnificent university, heir to the tradition of Petra Mohyly, has bestowed upon me the highest academic dignity. I am extremely grateful to the Rector, the university council and the entire academic community for the trust they have placed in me and my university. I have a deep impression that Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, and the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, despite being located on two separate borders of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, are close to each other as we share the same values and seek what unites people, not what divides them. Together, only free people, citizens aware of the great traditions of their ancestors, can defeat the evil approaching from Moscow. And this day will come because good prevails."
Concluding his speech in Ukrainian, Professor Rafal Witkowski said:
"An old proverb says that a friend in need is a friend indeed. You can judge for yourselves who has supported you in recent years. I believe that the generations of students gaining knowledge today within the walls of Mohylanka will rebuild Ukraine as a beautiful, wonderful, modern and fair country in Europe."
