After the Cold War and joining the Council of Europe, Ukraine, for a long time, got unsatisfactory evaluations from the European Court of Human Rights on various matters. It has turned now from a bad student into the moral authority of Europe.

"There was a kind of formed class among the countries of Eastern Europe that joined the Council of Europe after the Cold War. They learned from the experienced states of democracy, the rule of law, and human rights," Mykola Hnatovsky, ECtHR judge, stated in a conversation with "European Pravda." He added that Ukraine was in this class consistently "a bad student." In particular, the ECtHR evaluated Ukraine unsatisfactorily on various matters. However, according to him, it somehow progressed.

However, he points out that there will no longer be a pre-war Ukraine. There will be a fundamentally different Ukraine.

"Ukraine has already become the moral authority of Europe, a moral reference point, or the moral compass of Europe. Because this "bad student" is ready to die, ready to give his life, ready to make any sacrifices in order to be a truly European state," the judge explained.

He has called the idea of a free European state without human rights and the rule of law misleading.

"Human rights are part of Ukraine's identity. It's not only about the second paragraph of its Constitution but the fact that everything we fight for comes down to the values protected by the ECtHR and promoted by the Council of Europe. That's why no one has the right to mentor Ukraine anymore. And they won't, I'm sure. But that doesn't mean they won't help Ukraine properly build its democracy," Judge Hnatovsky underlined.

As reported, more than 10,000 complaints filed against Ukraine have been registered in the European Court of Human Rights. Ukraine ranks third in the number of cases.

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