August 18-21 will mark a major event. For the first time Ukraine will host the Eighth World Congress of Ukrainians. The Ukrainian diaspora of some twenty million from over twenty countries the world over will be represented by three hundred delegates. Two more hundred will come from “mainland” Ukraine. The Congress convenes every fifth year. The list of guest of honor includes President Leonid Kuchma, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, Premier Viktor Yanukovych, and numerous representatives of all levels of power. The Ukrainian House has been chosen as the Congress venue.
Congress participants see their overriding goal in “summing up the results of activities of WCU member organizations; analyzing the state of the worldwide Ukrainian diaspora; identifying the problems of expatriates and finding ways to solve them; finding ways to improve effectively Ukraine’s support for expatriates; creating relevant programs; and making recommendations.” Four plenary sessions, a roundtable dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the Ukrainian World Coordination Council (UWCC), and a mourning observance at the memorial to victims of the Holodomor manmade famines in Ukraine will be held as part of the Congress. This Congress will be exceptional in that all previous Congresses convened beyond Ukrainian territory, mostly in New York and Toronto. Congress management initially planned to convene in Europe, specifically in Warsaw under the aegis of Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. However, in keeping with the concept of the world center of the worldwide Ukrainian community to be established in its historic homeland, Kyiv has been chosen as the Congress venue instead. As Mykola Pavliuk, founder, former first secretary general, and current WCU president, as well as the last president-in-exile of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, told a news conference, over the past twelve years for various reasons Ukraine lost four million citizens. Also, a great many ethnic Ukrainians have settled abroad. To illustrate, the Ukrainian diaspora in Spain and Portugal is more numerous than in the rest of European countries combined. They need special attention. Mr. Pavliuk sees one of the aims of the Congress in using the diaspora resources to enhance Ukraine’s image in the world, since our country is not all about corruption. Such a mechanism could prove more effective than official media outlets.
In his turn, Mykhailo Horyn, famous lawyer, public figure, and UWCC chairman, told about his meetings with Ukrainian communities across the world: in Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Belarus, and elsewhere. Tellingly, he was received most warmly in Tatarstan, which also has a large Ukrainian community. Unique in this respect is the cold and remote Yamal Peninsula, where Ukrainians make up 40,000 of the 100,000 population. Among them are many of those forcibly exiled under the Soviets and those who traveled this far in search of a better life. According to Mr. Horyn, “there is Ukrainian life out there.”
The WCU was established in 1967 as the World Congress of Free Ukrainians (WCFU). This is one of the biggest public and political organizations of Ukrainians abroad uniting and guiding the activity of scores of public organizations. In 1992 it was renamed the World Congress of Ukrainians. That same year the WCU became a cofounder of the WUCC and joined it as a full member. The representatives of both organizations, Mykola Pavliuk and Mykhailo Horyn, agree that the two organizations in fact serve a single purpose of “coordinating Ukrainians abroad and preserving their communities.” Thus, many think of them as one and the same. However, Mr. Horyn said the two organizations must work hand in hand but each in its own direction. This will be the watchword for the preparation of the Eighth Congress, whose results will become known in August.
