Ukrainian citizens should prove that they deserve to be part of the European family, former Prime Minister and Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko has said in an Independence Day address.

"The signing and ratification of the agreement on association and a free trade area with the EU is also at risk. This is another historical test for us. But we're not alone on this path – we have friends who also believe in Ukraine. We must prove to them that we deserve to be part of the European family. The democratic world has hope and faith in a better future for us," reads the address, which was posted on her personal Web site on Saturday.

"Today we are passing through history. It's not an easy romantic walk. We're walking with shackles on our feet, with record levels of corruption by the ruling family, with a trade blockade on our northern borders, with a usurped part of Crimea, with radical opposition to our European future, with heartbreaking pain in our soul, with difficulties and problems," Tymoshenko said.

However, she said that Ukrainians are moving forward, learning to take responsibility for their independence.

"The consolidation of our young European state is irreversible. We have never had it easy. This history, this fate is in our genetics," she said.

"We are a country – and this is most important. No one can destroy us, nobody can forbid our existence. Independence Day isn't a holiday for politicians, it's not a parade, planes above Khreschatyk or billboards. It's a day of unity of all Ukrainian souls around the world. We have our priceless land, our language, our history, our heroes, and we will have a future," Tymoshenko said.

"It's difficult to be an optimist here in prison, but I know that everything will be ok in Ukraine," she added.

In her Independence Day address, Tymoshenko also congratulated Levko Lukyanenko on his 85th birthday.

"He was born on the same day as our independence and breathes in unison with it. I congratulate Levko and know that he will do a lot more for our future," she said.

As reported, on October 11, 2011, Pechersky District Court in Kyiv sentenced Tymoshenko to seven years in prison for abuse of office when signing gas contracts with Russia in 2009. She has been serving her prison term in the Kachanivska penal colony in Kharkiv since the end of December 2011.