The world is facing not only a geopolitical crisis, but also a crisis of meaning. Ideas that until recently seemed unquestionable – the leadership of democracies, the durability of alliances, the universality of human rights – can no longer be taken for granted.
Ukraine, a country paying for freedom with blood every single day, is increasingly becoming a driving intellectual and moral force on the global stage.
Perhaps the world has not yet fully recognized this shift. But Ukraine is already living inside it.
That is why the central theme of Book Arsenal 2026 – “To Bear Your Freedom” – resonates not as a metaphor, but as a formula of lived experience. For Ukrainians, freedom long ago ceased to be an abstraction or a beautiful political slogan. It has become a foundational value: something that carries a price, something that can be lost, and something that must often be defended physically – on the front line, under occupation, in captivity, and in the struggle to remain oneself.
Without freedom, our fight has no meaning. But freedom is not only a right. It is also a responsibility. Responsibility is freedom’s “Siamese twin.” One cannot proclaim freedom and simultaneously avoid responsibility for one’s choices – even when that choice is inaction.
Can freedom be restricted? Sadly, our painful experience proves that it can – not only on the individual level, but collectively as well. Every day we think about prisoners of war, people living under occupation, and those being deprived not only of rights, but of the very feeling of freedom itself.
Book Arsenal 2026 today is far more than a literary festival. It is a space where a new language of freedom is being born.
At the same time, we see that in many countries – and above all in the aggressor state – large numbers of people are willing to surrender freedom voluntarily in exchange for comfort, security, or the illusion of stability. But this is a dangerous trap. Giving up freedom does not free anyone from consequences. It merely strips people of the ability to shape their own future.
The Ukrainian experience is especially important today because we are learning to understand freedom not individually, but collectively. We endured – and continue to endure – thanks to solidarity: the ability to help one another, to act together, and to create a shared space of meaning and responsibility.
That is why freedom is always about others. About those beside us. About fellow citizens. About mutual support. About the ability to build the future together – and defend it together.
This is precisely why Book Arsenal 2026 today is far more than a literary festival. It is a place where Ukraine reflects on its role in a changing world. A space where a new language of freedom is being born.
The discussions, books, exhibitions, and presentations during the Arsenal are not merely cultural events. They are a process of collective thinking – an attempt to understand who we are, what we can offer the world, and what kind of future we are fighting for.
For me, these four days, from May 28 to 31, resemble the weaving of a shared fabric of meaning – a moment when very different voices, experiences, and ideas intertwine to create something greater than the sum of individual thoughts.
And perhaps this is Ukraine’s new mission today: not only to fight for freedom, but also to help the world rediscover its value.