According to Eugene Czolij, President of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), the Ukrainian diaspora is over ten million people today. Given a proper strategy and coordination, this force could become an important factor of Ukrainian clout on the international arena. This is in fact what the UWC, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary these days, strives for. On this occasion, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has held a ceremony participated by the Speaker, members of parliament, and delegates from various countries.
Speaking of the UWC’s top-priority goals, Mr. Czolij emphasized promoting Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration, increasing sanctions against Russia and international aid to Ukraine, countering Russian propaganda, promoting economic development and increasing investments, protecting the rights of Ukrainians abroad, on the occupied territories, and in Russia. Parliament Speaker Andrii Parubii spoke about the support the diaspora has been giving to Ukraine at various stages of our history, particularly in the past few difficult years. “What is very important today is protection of our historical memory,” Mr. Parubii said. “The Kremlin is trying to deny Ukraine the right to exist, having misappropriated our history, including the Ancient Rus’ period. For this reason, we should launch a knowledge-extension activity and explain things about not only present-day Ukraine, but also our history, a history of grandeur and statehood. It is extremely important for us to counter informational attacks from the Kremlin which has built a powerful information machine to convince the world that there is a civil war in Ukraine, which it has nothing to do with. We should continue cooperation in the context of resisting Russia’s informational aggression. Quite obviously, Ukraine is short of the enormous resources that Russia has, but we have a different strength – the strength of the truth and conviction.”
Incidentally, many speeches focused on the need for an effective policy on history. It is therefore no accident that Den took part in the Verkhovna Rada ceremony.
At the invitation of MP Hanna Hopko, chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee, our newspaper presented the Den Library’s publishing projects to the delegates and members of parliament. The participants in the event also had an opportunity to leaf through the latest issue of Den and the books as well as to speak to the compilers of a new book, The Crown, or The Heritage of the Rus’ Kingdom, which is to be launched soon at the Publishers’ Forum in Lviv.
“When I was getting ready for today’s meeting, I recalled the British researcher Lancelot Lawton,” Ms. Hopko says. “Addressing the British Parliament’s House of Commons in 1935, he said that an independent and self-sufficient Ukraine was indispensable for European economic progress and world peace. The Ukrainian World Congress has been trying in all these years to put across the idea that there will be no true peace in Europe as a whole unless there is peace in Ukraine. It is here that the destiny of the world is being decided. We have a geopolitical mission of our own in the 21st century. Ukraine managed to restore its independence only 26 years ago, but, as a state with a more than a 1,000-year-long history, it must continue to make very many efforts. We must learn the lessons of history and not make the same blunders.
“It is extremely important to keep political unity intact inside the country. Now, on the eve of a new political season, the political class must come to terms about national priorities. In the last while, we have taken quite a few steps aimed at preserving Ukrainian identity. I mean de-Communization, Ukrainian language quotas on the radio, etc. For Russia has not only occupied our lands with tanks, but is also trying to occupy our history, ‘privatize’ Anna of Kyiv, etc.
“In this context, I’d like to thank the newspaper Den which, incidentally, published recently an interview with Stefan Romaniw, UWC Secretary General and chairman of the Commission for the Ukrainian Holodomor-Genocide Awareness. Incidentally, the newspaper is also published in English (The Day) and is making a lot of efforts to carry the truth about Ukraine across the world. I want to praise the Den’s Library, particularly the English-language publication Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25.
“I am convinced that we should coordinate our efforts to counter the Russian informational aggression. In the last while, some influential American and European media have published a number of paid-for articles that in fact support the allegations of Russian propaganda. I will remind you that there were similar processes also in the times of the Holodomor, when, for example, Walter Duranty, who lied, denying the famine in Ukraine, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. What obviously awaits us is a difficult struggle. Accordingly, it is very important for Ukraine to stand its ground and not to let any oligarchs impose ‘painful compromises’ or any other scenarios of surrender on us, as Viktor Pinchuk recently tried to do in his article in the influential Wall Street Journal. I am sure we are mature enough to set up our own quality platforms for international cooperation, which will be free of the influence of concrete oligarchs. Western politicians should understand that a successful, democratic, and secure Ukraine is pivotal in the global geopolitical context. I am calling on all of us to think in broader terms, set more ambitious goals, and map out strategies for decades ahead.”
