Unity Day, 22 January 2007

The date marks an act in which two Ukrainian states, formed separately and under different circumstances, declared themselves one.

It did not last long in the form it took then. It is remembered anyway, and the custom of marking it with a chain of people holding hands across the Dnipro is one of the more direct pieces of symbolism I have seen anywhere.

Countries choose which anniversaries to keep. Choosing one about coming together says something about what the people choosing consider worth remembering.

Congratulations on Unity Day.