Portnikov was speaking at an event celebrating NV’s 10th anniversary.
He suggested that Ukraine’s raison d'etre is to facilitate the development and fulfillment of the Ukrainian people, as "there is no other place on Earth for Ukrainians."
“We have significantly more opportunities to fight for Ukrainian identity than many other European nations,” said Portnikov.
“We live in a state that is ethnically largely homogeneous.
We can address national minority issues far more easily, as these do not affect
the overall cultural mainstream of the Ukrainian people.”
The goal of preserving Ukrainian statehood amid war makes the next 10 years extremely difficult for the country, he asserted.
“If we can achieve anything in the future, it will be overcoming the Ukrainian inferiority complex, which was imposed here by empires for centuries,” Portnikov continues.
“The entire sense of Ukraine’s future is to be Ukrainian—a country where people understand the importance of their historical, cultural, and linguistic heritage. If people do not recognize the value of what can be lost, then the entire point of the country's existence and the meaning of every sacrifice—from the times of the Kyiv princes to the present day when our warriors are dying—is lost.”