OREANDA-NEWS President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree according to which May 9 is declared Europe Day in the country instead of Victory Day. The document is published on the website of the office of the head of state.

As stated in the presidential statement, Europe Day will be celebrated annually, starting tomorrow, and will be dedicated to the historical unity of all Europeans who destroyed Nazism.

"This will be the Day of Europe, which helps us fight in all directions: on the battlefield with weapons, on the diplomatic frontline with determination, against missile terror and winter blackout, in the economy and on the legal front. It will be the Day of Europe, our ally," Zelensky stressed.

In addition, the President said that he had submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill to establish May 8 as the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism. Thus, he proposed to celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany on the Western European model.

"It is on May 8 that the greatness of the victory over Nazism is mentioned by most of the peoples of the world. It was on May 8, 1945 that the act of unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht came into force. It is on May 8 that the world honors the memory of all those whose lives were taken away by the war," Zelensky commented on his decision.

Earlier, on May 9, Ukraine celebrated the Victory Day over Nazism in World War II, and on May 8 — the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation. Since 2015, the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation has been considered a public holiday in Ukraine.