Veteran policy in Ukraine must be fair, and participants in the war against Russian aggression should receive full opportunities for self-realization, stated Member of Parliament of Ukraine and leader of the "European Solidarity" party Petro Poroshenko.
"A veteran is a resource, opportunity, and the future. We need to talk not about 'health screening,' but about reliable, highly professional, and effective treatment. And it is not only about prosthetics. And not only about PTSD. It is about facilitating the veteran's adaptation to peaceful life. Because a veteran has returned as a different person, and he has returned to a different country. He knows how to live at the front, but is not sure he knows how to live in such a peaceful life. And he needs to be helped. Helped with treatment. Helped with work," Poroshenko said during the "Chronicles of War" forum.
He warned against bureaucratic formalism in attitude toward veterans and emphasized that they, like no one else, have a voice in resolving strategic state-building issues and have the right to be present in government.
"This is the role and mission of veterans—when they see corruption in power, they have the right to say: we did not fight for this, we fought not only to preserve a unified state, we fought to preserve democracy, preserve freedom that has always been inherent to Ukrainians—from freedom of speech to freedom of assembly, from the freedom of civic activists to the freedom of every individual—we fought to preserve Ukraine's place in Europe, we fought to preserve Ukraine's future perspective in NATO," the politician believes.
According to the leader of "European Solidarity," in the projects for producing equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and protecting critical infrastructure that he invests in, more than half of the employees are veterans.
"We need to unite—veterans with veterans, rather than exploiting veterans. You will ask me, where can veterans work to receive such a salary? Veterans should work primarily in the defense and security sector. Because the defense and security sector offers the highest salaries. Where we manufacture weapons and defense elements. Because a veteran is the person who understands best and knows what and how to prepare," Poroshenko believes.
