On May 9, Ukraine, the countries of the European Union and a number of other countries celebrate Europe Day as a symbol of peace and unity of the European peoples. This day also combines significant historical achievements in science, politics, culture and the struggle for freedom around the world.
Europe Day in Ukraine
Every year on May 9, Ukraine celebrates Europe Day, a symbolic holiday of the European choice, which gained special significance during the war and geopolitical transformation. However, few people know that historically there are two Europe Days, and each of them has its own deep and important history.
The first Europe Day was born on May 5, 1949 — on this day, the Council of Europe was founded, the first pan-European political organization that united countries around common democratic values, human rights and the rule of law. The Council of Europe is not part of the European Union, but it was the first institutional platform after the Second World War for common European development.
The second Europe Day, celebrated on May 9, has a different nature. It was on this day in 1950 that the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Robert Schuman, made a speech that later went down in history as the “Schuman Declaration.” In it, he proposed the creation of the European Coal and Steel Association, a union of France and Germany, to which other European countries could join. The goal was to make a new war in Europe not just impossible, but also unthinkable. This move started the process of integration that eventually led to the creation of the European Union.
Therefore, May 9 is considered the official Europe Day in EU countries. In addition to the member states of the European Union, this day is also celebrated by Ukraine, Turkey and Moldova, which emphasizes their strategic course towards European integration.
Ukraine has been celebrating Europe Day since 2003. For two decades it fell on the third Saturday in May. However, in 2023, on the initiative of the President of Ukraine, the date was changed – now Ukraine celebrates this holiday on May 9, synchronously with the European Union. This decision became not only a political gesture, but also a symbol of the final break with the Soviet tradition of celebrating May 9 as “Victory Day”, instead reorientation to the European format of memory, democracy and solidarity.
In times of war, Europe Day in Ukraine sounds differently: it is a day of unity with those who support Ukrainians in their struggle for freedom, peace and the right to be part of a common Europe. It is a day of firm reminder of the values for which life is given today.
Interesting facts
In the European Union, May 9 is an official holiday, but only in EU institutions is it a day off. In most member states, it is a normal working day, although there are public events.
The symbol of Europe is a blue flag with 12 golden stars, which do not mean the number of countries, but symbolize the idea of perfection and unity.
The anthem of the European Union is “Ode to Joy” by Ludwig van Beethoven, which is played at EU ceremonies.
The Schumann Declaration was adopted less than five years after the end of World War II. Its goal was not just to pool resources, but to build a new Europe — a European community of destiny.
In 2022, precisely on Europe Day, the European Commission officially handed over to Ukraine a questionnaire for obtaining EU candidate status — this document became the first formal step towards membership.
Ukraine is the only country that, in the conditions of a full-scale war, celebrates Europe Day with a special meaning: as a holiday of resistance, hope and choice.
Historical events on this day
1913 — Ihor Sikorskyi, one of the most famous Ukrainian aircraft designers, made the first flight of his hydroplane S-10 “Hydro”. This aircraft proved that Sikorsky was not only a pioneer in the creation of rotorcraft, but also actively worked on the development of hydroaviation.
1913 — In France, the film “Fantomas” was released – the first adaptation of the popular series of novels about a genius criminal. The tape started a whole series of films about Fantomas, which later became classics of world cinema.
1919 — Symon Petliura was elected the head of the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. His figure became a symbol of the struggle for independent Ukraine in the whirlwind of a difficult political situation at the beginning of the 20th century.
1920 — In the center of Kyiv, a joint parade of Polish and Ukrainian troops took place on Khreschatyk on the occasion of the liberation of the city from the Bolsheviks. The event was the result of the Ukrainian-Polish union, concluded to counter the Soviet threat.
1920 — The Ukrainian society “Enlightenment” was founded in Uzhhorod. It became an important institution for the preservation and spread of the Ukrainian language, culture and national self-awareness among Transcarpathian Ukrainians.
1922 — Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Tikhon was taken under house arrest. This step of the Soviet authorities became a demonstrative manifestation of anti-religious policy in the era of the establishment of the dictatorship.
1927 — The Federal Parliament of Australia solemnly moved to the new capital — Canberra. This decision finally cemented the capital status of Canberra, specially built as the political heart of the country.
1945 — To the Central Airfield named after A Li-2 plane with the crew of Anatoly Semenkov landed in Frunze in Moscow, which delivered the act of surrender of Nazi Germany. This day in the USSR and the countries of the Soviet bloc was celebrated as the official end of the Second World War in Europe.
1950 — The European Coal and Steel Association was created in Paris — the first intergovernmental community, which became the prototype of the European Union. It was this day, May 9, that later became the official Europe Day.
1955 — The Federal Republic of Germany officially joined NATO, completing the post-war integration into the Western security system. It was a strategic decision that determined the course of Germany for decades to come.
1962 — The S-64 helicopter crane, designed by Igor Sikorsky, made its first flight in the USA. This helicopter was a breakthrough in cargo air transportation and a recognized technical achievement.
2012 — A Russian Sukhoi Superjet 100 plane crashed in Indonesia during a demonstration flight. The tragedy claimed the lives of 45 people and called into question the reliability of a new model of civil aviation from Russia.
2018 — Due to heavy rains in Kenya, the Patel Dam, located in the Great Rift Valley, burst. The flood killed at least 48 people and caused significant damage to local infrastructure.
2022 — US President Joe Biden signed the Law S.3522 on Lend-Lease for Ukraine. This historic document provided significant military and technical support in the fight against the Russian invasion and revived the mechanism that helped the Allies defeat Nazism during World War II.
May 9, 1902 Paul Leland Kirk was born – a man of encyclopedic knowledge in the field of forensics and biochemistry, who today is considered the “founding father” of blood spatter analysis. His contribution to science is so important that the highest award that can be received in the section of criminology of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences is now named after Paul Kirk.
One of Kirk’s key achievements was the formulation of an extended principle laid down by the French criminologist and forensic medicine pioneer Edmond Locard, known as the “Sherlock Holmes of France”. It was Lokar who claimed: “Every contact leaves a mark”. In his opinion, a criminal, having arrived at the scene of a crime, necessarily brings something with him – and takes something away. It is these traces that can turn into physical evidence. He expressed this principle: “When two objects come into contact, there is a mutual exchange”.
Paul Kirk elaborated on this idea when he stated:
“Evidence is not forgotten. They do not succumb to the emotions of the moment. Their absence does not depend on the absence of human witnesses. They are factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong. They are not able to slander themselves. They cannot disappear completely. Only the human inability to find, investigate and understand them can reduce their value.”
A case that changed modern criminology
On the night of July 3, 1954 Marilyn Sheppard, the wife of the famous neurosurgeon Sam Sheppard, was brutally murdered. The investigation of this case caused ambiguous assessments from the beginning. The main physical evidence was numerous splatters of blood on the walls, floor, interior items, as well as on the clothes of the victim and the suspect.
Sheppard claimed that after the party, he and his wife saw off their guests and went to bed. Around the morning of July 4, he said, he woke up from his wife’s screams. When he went upstairs, he saw a “white two-legged figure”, after which he lost consciousness. After regaining consciousness, he saw an unknown man fighting the attacker on the beach. Later he fainted again. The investigation insisted that there was no stranger, and it was Sam Sheppard who killed his wife. He was found guilty despite objections and numerous appeals.
January 22, 1955, a month after the verdict, Paul Kirk visited the crime scene. He produced a detailed technical report in which he expressed his belief in Sheppard’s innocence—primarily based on blood spatter analysis. Thanks to this report, ten years later, in 1966, the case was tried in court, and Kirk gave evidence that proved decisive: the original conviction was overturned and Sam Sheppard was released from custody.
However, participation in the case had unpleasant consequences for Kirk. His conclusions contradicted the position of the investigation and the official line of the state, because of which he was denied membership in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. At the same time, Sheppard’s case became the first precedent in modern history when blood spatter analysis played a decisive role in a court decision.
It is symbolic that the very name of Paul Kirk now bears the highest award in American criminology. Besides, Kirk was the first to be called a word “criminalist”. He headed the School of Forensic Sciences at Berkeley for a long time and started a professional culture that later spread throughout the world. Today, the word “criminologist” has become fashionable, but its true meaning originates from Paul Leland Kirk.
May 9, 1936 Benito Mussolini inaugurated the creation of the Italian Empire by announcing Ethiopia’s accession to Italy before a crowd of 400,000 people in Rome’s Piazza Venezia.
This act of annexation became the apotheosis of fascist militarist policy and a symbol – in the rhetoric of the Duce himself – of the “rebirth of the empire”. However, behind the loud propaganda was a brutal colonial war that lasted more than half a year. Against the Ethiopian army, which in many cases was armed only with spears and bows, Italy used modern tanks, artillery, fighter jets and, worst of all, banned poison gas. These actions already caused outrage in parts of the international community, but no real response followed.
Although the military campaign ended with the formal capture of the territory, armed resistance continued throughout the Italian occupation. Ethiopian partisans fought until 1941. During the years of colonial rule, approximately 750,000 people — mostly civilians — died in Ethiopia.
Mussolini emphasized that the empire is not only the territory, but above all the spirit, greatness, the idea of national exclusivity. Fascist propaganda created the image of a “renewed Roman Empire”, and Italian society developed a specific way of celebrating the newly conquered greatness. It was customary to exchange greetings on the streets of Rome: “Well, whose is Ethiopia now?”, “Ethiopia is ours!” This slogan became a symbol of the militaristic triumphalism of the Mussolini era.
Exactly ten years later, on May 9, 1946, Italian King Victor Emmanuel III abdicated. And already in June, Italy will officially become a republic in a referendum. In the same year, Mussolini will no longer be among the living, and Ethiopia itself will be liberated. An empire built on blood will crumble, leaving behind a burden of historical shame.
May 9, 2014 — one of the most poignant and symbolic days of the beginning of the armed confrontation in Donbas. It was on this day that militants tried to capture the city police department in Mariupol.
The attack took place on a public holiday. About 60 militants armed with machine guns attacked the building, in which there were only 14 people – regular shifts and security. Despite the numerical superiority of the enemy and the surprise of the attack, a fierce battle broke out in the building. Police officers barricaded themselves on the third floor and held defenses in the face of a real threat of mass murder.
The National Guard and two combat units of the “Azov” volunteer battalion arrived to help the besieged. A successful counterattack made it possible to unblock the police and break up the group of attackers.
Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov announced on Facebook:
“As a result of the battle, in which units of the National Guard and the special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs “Azov” participated, about 20 terrorists were destroyed, 4 were captured. A significant part of the attackers, abandoning their weapons, fled to the residential areas of the city… The position regarding terrorists with weapons will remain unchanged and only one – fire to defeat. Those who came with weapons and shoot, who take hostages, torture them, rob people, hiding under different slogans – the answer of the Ukrainian state will be only one – destruction.”
However, defense comes at a high price: the building of the Mariupol city police department was almost completely destroyed by fire. It was the first large-scale combat attack with heavy use of firearms within the city limits.
The tension did not subside. In the evening of May 10, two more key administrative buildings were set on fire — the military unit and the city prosecutor’s office. The city remained in a state of chaos, with a partially paralyzed power structure, a destroyed security infrastructure, and a high concentration of hostile sabotage groups.
The complete return of control over Mariupol took place only on June 13, 2014, when Ukrainian forces completely knocked out the militants from administrative institutions and raised Ukrainian flags over the city again. This day became a symbol of liberation, and the combat baptism of “Azov” was the beginning of his legendary journey in the fight for Ukraine.
