Chrystia Freeland

Supporting Ukraine today is the duty of every democratic politician in the world.

Chrystia Freeland

Chrystia Freeland is a Canadian journalist, publicist, and politician of Ukrainian descent, the first Ukrainian woman to serve as Minister International trade, Foreign Affairs, Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. She was awarded the Order of Princess Olga, First Class (2022) for significant personal services in strengthening interstate cooperation, support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a substantial contribution to worldwide popularization of Ukraine.

Christina Alexandra Freeland was born on August 2, 1968, in Pease River, Alberta, Canada, to lawyers Donald Freeland and Halyna Khomyak. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian history and literature from Harvard University and a Master of Arts degree in Slavonic studies from St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford. She speaks English, Ukrainian, French, Russian and Italian.

Chrystia started her journalistic career in Ukraine as a stringer for the Financial Times, The Washington Post, and The Economist. She has held senior positions at The Financial Times, The Globe and Mail, and Thomson Reuters. At the same time, she is a successful publicist and author of the popular books “Sale of the Century: Russia’s Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism” (2000) and “Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else” (2012). The latter is Canada’s most popular business book and made the New York Times bestseller list.

As a researcher of the Russian Federation, Chrystia Freeland predicted the decline of the Russian Federation in the context of authoritarianism, corruption, and intellectual degradation.

In November 2013, Chrystia Freeland won the elections to the federal parliament from the Liberal Party. On November 4, 2015, she joined the government of Justin Trudeau, becoming Minister of International Trade of Canada. On January 10, 2017, she was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. She was Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 20, 2019, to August 18, 2020. Since August 18, 2020, she has been Minister of Finance (the first woman to hold this position) and Deputy Prime Minister since November 20, 2020.

During her political career, she has actively and consistently defended the interests of Canada and Ukraine, whose support is one of her priorities. Chrystia Freeland lobbies for stricter sanctions against Russia and increased political, financial, military, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. She supports the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada. She has made several visits to Ukraine as Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. Freeland became the first representative of a foreign country’s highest authority to speak in Ukrainian at the highest tribunes of the world.