President Zelenskiy honored in Netherlands for Ukraine's fight for freedom

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in the Netherlands on Thursday to accept the International Four Freedoms Award, given to him and the Ukrainian people to honour their courage during four years of war with Russia.

The awards are named after U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 speech outlining four fundamental human rights: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

In awarding the prize in January, the Roosevelt Foundation said it had granted the award to Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian people in "recognition for their courageous struggle for our freedom and democracy under exceptionally difficult circumstances."

"They are battling for the security of all Europe and defending, with their lives," it said.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions, and devastated Ukrainian cities since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.

A ceremony in the historic southern town of Middelburg was to be attended by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Rob Jetten.

Other 2026 laureates included the Committee to Protect Journalists, for Freedom of Speech, and activist Gisele Pelicot, the French woman whose husband was convicted of inviting dozens of men to rape her unconscious body, for Freedom from Fear.

The organization said the recipient of the Freedom of Worship award could not be named due to security concerns, while Chilean activist Isidora Uribe Silva won the award for Freedom from Want.

Past recipients of the awards include former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and late South African President Nelson Mandela.

-Anthony Deutsch/Reuters