Happy New 2024!
Statement of Reggie Kai Hawthorne, Head of LARI.
Past year for us was a year, when we fought for independence. A year of war for liberty. A second year of war with an aggression. Asking anyone, how was the year, we can get infinite amount of answers.
We remember great and sad moments, that have occured in 2023. But the main moment for us is that we got stronger. 678 days ago, we were thrown a challenge. We didn't knew, what is gonna happen next.
When in 2022, in April, Athens have survived one of hardest springs, when we proved that we are more powerful than coldness and darkness, more powerful than the challenges imposed on us by those, who came to "liberate" us.
I guess, we can withstand deficites, due to us not having deficit of resilience and courage.
I want to say thanks to everyone, who made this possible. All our Armed Forces.
As we know, wars do not end by themselves -- we end them. And the win isn't granted - we must win.
And for this we must live by this rule: either you work, either you go to war. Because today against us is the biggest terroristic organization in the World.
And it is understood, how much we shall work, how more actively we shall work, how more powerful our fight and unity must be. Every person who does not ask: "What can i do?",but lives by a formula "must do more than i can" knows this, because exactly that "winning" means in Ukrainian:
- overpower yourself
- overcome
- make extra effort
- make more, than it seemed at first,
because everyone knows we can do better, and this is proved everyday by people of the world, people of different occupations. Volonteurs, diplomats, business, Taxpayers. Everyone who gives bread. Everyone who gives shelter. Everyone who makes ammo, everyone who repairs, builds. Everyone who works daily and proofs that we are stronger than fatigue.
War has taught us many things. It showed much. It disjoined the families, took sons, daughters, but at same time united us into one big family.
On February 24, 2022 we had to make a choice. The main goal of the war. Someone ran, someone is still here, someone is locked, someone took kids, someone gone to front, someone saved families, someone returned. At some point, we would need to ask ourselves, who are we, who we need to be.
As we welcome the new year, I am filled with hope and optimism for the future of our great nation. This past year has been a challenging one, but we have persevered and emerged stronger than ever before. We have shown that we are people, capable of overcoming even the most difficult of obstacles. We overcame 2264 air siren rings.
This is the first new year, that we actually celebrate as an
actual micronation, that works. Without you, this would not be possible.
Indeed, as Ursula von der Leyen said, it is a fight for rule of law or rule of gun. 158 weapons were used two days ago, and by far, this was the biggest russian attack by weapon counts, resulting in three being assasinated. Last report that came to me half-a-hour ago, 1709 russian rockets, 653 russian flight units, 15 aeroballistic "Kinjal's", 3095 "Shahed" were down since 24.02.2022 (but in fact it is more than those).
As we look ahead to the coming year, we must continue to work together to build a brighter future for all of our citizens. We must remain committed to the values that have made our nation great: freedom, democracy, and equality. We must continue to strive for excellence in all that we do, and to never lose sight of our goals. We must show the power that lies in our democracies, the power of people that choose their independent paths, freely and democratically.
This year, we also will face many challenges, but I am confident that we will overcome them together. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that our citizens have access to the best healthcare, education, and job opportunities. We will continue to invest in our infrastructure, our communities, and our people. But whatever 2024 will bring, i hope we will be stronger.
As we move forward into the new year, let us remember that we are all in this together. Let us continue to support one another, to lift each other up, and to work together to build a better future for ourselves and for generations to come.
I wish everyone, who found themselves in our common cause, to have the people, who will support you close to you.
Thank you, and happy new year!
Glory to Inocria. Glory to Ukraine. Glory to our Allies. Lose to russian federation!