“For three centuries, we were in (the) shadow of Russian Empire. And I’m here to say, Europe, we are back,” Ukrainian human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk declared as she received the European Order of Merit in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday.Visibly emotional, Matviichuk said Ukraine is “returning home to European values.”“We are paying the highest price for this.”The head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, which was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, Matviichuk is among the first European Order of Merit laureates. She has been recognised for her “significant contribution to European integration and the promotion and defence of European values”.Inn her address to the European parliament, she also issued a stark warning, arguing that Russian president Vladimir Putin started Moscow’s full-scale invasion for reasons that go well beyond Ukraine itself.“He sees Ukraine as a bridge to Europe,” she said. “His logic is historical, and that is why people in other European countries, they are safe only because Ukrainians are still resisting and don’t let (the) Russian army move further.”This, she said, is “why Ukraine is an integral part of European security”.“The global storm is approaching,” Matviichuk told MEPs and fellow Order of Merit laureates, with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Polish president and Solidarność leader Lech Wałęsa also present.“The world order based UN Charter and international law has collapsed. These dramatic times test all of us.”“Europe is less about geography, but more about values. Europe must defend freedom and democracy, because only readiness to defend our values defines the society that has a future.”