TORONTO – The president of the Ukrainian World Congress, the coordinating body that represents the interests of the diaspora of over 20 million Ukrainians, continued visiting Ukrainian communities around the globe in the first months of 2018.
The overall goal of the visits by Eugene Czolij is to promote Ukrainian issues with the governing authorities of the countries where Ukrainians reside and to strengthen cooperation with Ukrainian communities.
Meetings in Austria
The Ukrainian World Congress president met with high-ranking state officials and the Ukrainian community in Austria on February 22-24.
He visited St. Barbara Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, where he met with the community to speak about UWC support for Ukraine and called on the Ukrainian community for active cooperation in this regard. The next day he visited the Ukrainian Saturday school in Vienna, meeting with the school’s leadership and its senior classes. He encourage the students to learn the Ukrainian language and to support Ukraine by using the tools of social media to share the truth about their ancestral homeland.
On the school’s premises, Mr. Czolij also met with the leadership of Ukrainian community organizations in Austria. Also that day, the UWC leader became acquainted with the activities of the Erudit Ukrainian School, where he addressed students and teachers on Ukrainian themes.
During his visit to Austria, the UWC president was accompanied by Ukraine’s ambassador to Austria, Olexander Scherba, and the director of the UWC Mission to International Organizations in Brussels, Maryna Iaroshevych.
While in Vienna, Mr. Czolij addressed a side event of the 17th winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) focused on “Violations of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Crimea” and discussed Ukrainian issues with high-ranking OSCE officials and delegates from participating states.
He highlighted the brazen illegal occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the gross violations of the rights of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians, and the increasing militarization of Crimea which threatens the international community. The UWC president focused attention on the plight of the residents of Crimea who refuse to demonstrate their loyalty to the occupying forces of the Russian Federation. Mr. Czolij cited statistics of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center documenting four deaths, 16 new political prisoners, 16 disappearances, 286 detainees, 340 interrogations, 62 searches, 46 arrests and 104 fines in 2017 in occupied Crimea.
Mr. Czolij also highlighted the forced Russification, the blocking of access for international human rights organizations to monitor violations and the lack of access to independent media. Mr. Czolij underscored the need to deploy to Crimea a monitoring mission or, in its absence, a remote monitoring mission in order to reduce the number of human rights violations. He also called for regular reports by OSCE experts on the status of human rights in Crimea.
Mr. Czolij raised these issues during meetings with OSCE high-ranking officials and delegates from participating states. He also focused attention on the intensification of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine.
At the same time, the UWC leaders highlighted the reforms being realized in Ukraine at a time when it is countering Russian military aggression. Mr. Czolij called for the strengthening of sanctions against the Russian Federation for gross violations of the Minsk agreements; exclusion of the Russian Federation from the SWIFT financial network; and adoption of Magnitsky legislation. The UWC president also called upon officials of the OSCE and member-states to refrain from travelling to the 21st FIFA World Cup in the Russian Federation to demonstrate that human rights take precedence over football matches.
Mr. Czolij commented: “Addressing the side event of the 17th winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and meetings with OSCE high-ranking officials and delegations of OSCE member states presented the opportunity to outline and discuss current issues related to the protection of the human rights of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars in Crimea, which is illegally occupied by the Russian Federation, and the means for the international community to counter the hybrid war of the Russian Federation.”
In the Slovak Republic
On the invitation of the Union of Ruthenians-Ukrainians of the Slovak Republic, a UWC member organization, Mr. Czolij traveled to Bratislava on February 25-26. In meetings with high-ranking state officials, the UWC president expressed gratitude to Slovakia for its support of Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression.
In presenting Ukrainian issues, he emphasized the scale of the Russian Federation’s hybrid war, which poses a serious threat for all of Ukraine, and for the peace and security of Slovakia and the entire world. In this context, he focused attention on the numerous violations of the human rights of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar peoples on the illegally occupied territories of eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
The UWC president called upon Slovakia to strengthen sanctions against the Russian Federation until it fully complies with the Minsk agreements and de-occupies Crimea; to support the deployment of an OSCE monitoring or remote monitoring mission to illegally occupied Crimea and a U.N. peacekeeping mission to the Donbas; and to adopt Magnitsky legislation for human rights violations including in Crimea.
Mr. Czolij also urged Slovakia’s officials to not attend World Cup soccer games in the Russian Federation, thereby expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian people in their fight with this aggressor-state.
On February 25, Mr. Czolij attended divine liturgy in the Slovak Greek-Catholic Church, where he met with the Eparch of the Eparchy of Bratislava, Bishop Petеr Rusnak. On that day the UWC president paid tribute to renowned Ukrainians Taras Shevchenko and Hryhoriy Skovoroda at, respectively, a memorial and commemorative plaque in Bratislava.
In addition, Eugene Czolij met with the Ukrainian community in Slovakia during a meeting organized by the Union of Ruthenians-Ukrainians of the Slovak Republic chaired by Petro Sokol. During the meeting, the UWC president presented the main priorities of the UWC related to supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, familiarized himself with local community life and discussed ways to continue cooperation with the UWC.
While in Bratislava, the UWC president was accompanied by director of the UWC Mission in Brussels, Ms. Iaroshevych. In individual meetings, Mr. Czolij was joined by Ambassador of Ukraine in the Slovak Republic Yuri Mushka and the president of the Union of Ruthenians-Ukrainians of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Sokol.
On to the United Arab Emirates
On March 2-4, Mr. Czolij was on an official visit to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he addressed a pre-conference workshop on the topic “Working together for Sustainability of Humanitarian Response” that was organized by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs prior to the 15th annual Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition (DIHAD).
Participants of the official opening on March 3 of the Ukrainian Social Club in the United Arab Emirates (in the center, from left): W. Abdulmalik Mohammad Ahli, Eugene Czolij and Olena Lukyanova, chair of the Ukrainian Social Club. First from right is Maryna Iaroshevych of the UWC Mission in Brussels.
On March 2 in Abu Dhabi, the UWC president met with Ambassador of Ukraine to the UAE Yuriy Polurez and discussed Ukraine-UAE relations and the situation of Ukrainians in the UAE.
In Dubai, Mr. Czolij familiarized himself with the work of St. Mary Ukrainian Saturday School, where he addressed the students and teaching staff headed by the principal, Natalia Serdyuk, and met with the students’ parents.
After this, a meeting was held at the Ukrainian Social Club in Dubai with members of the executive of the Ukrainian Social Club of the UAE, which is led by Olena Lukyanova.
On March 3 at the Embassy of Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, a meeting was held with leaders and activists of the Ukrainian community in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to whom the UWC president explained the work of the UWC and discussed future cooperation. Also that day, the UWC president participated in an event celebrating the official opening of the Ukrainian Social Club in the UAE.
The UWC president also had a meeting with the minister of state for tolerance in the UAE, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan. Mr. Czolij also called upon the governing authorities of the UAE to provide the Ukrainian community with land on which to build a church and access to a facility where they could organize cultural activities.
Mr. Czolij attended divine liturgy at St. Mary Catholic Church in Dubai, where he met with Ukrainian clergy celebrating the liturgy: Father Stepan Sus, military chaplain, parish priest of Ss. Peter and Paul Garrison Church, and Father Bohdan Kulyk, chaplain of the Center for Student Chaplains of the Lviv Eparchy of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. He also visited the Jumeirah Mosque in Dubai and met with Imam Mossan.
While in the UAE, the UWC president was accompanied by the president of the Ukrainian Social Club in the UAE, Ms. Lukyanova, and director of the UWC Mission in Brussels, Ms. Iaroshevych.
A visit to Serbia
In Serbia on March 5-6, Mr. Czolij visited Belgrade and Novi Sad. During meetings with high-ranking state officials, the UWC president thanked Serbia for the humanitarian aid to Ukraine provided in support of internally displaced persons. He also presented the current situation in the Donbas and Crimea resulting from the ongoing aggression of the Russian Federation, which he said is a serious threat not only for Ukraine, but Serbia as well.
Mr. Czolij called upon Serbia, which aspires to join the European Union, to support EU resolutions on the situation in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. In addition, the UWC president highlighted the significant achievements of Ukraine in reforming and modernizing while countering the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.
Mr. Czolij expressed a willingness to work with Serbia, which is a candidate country on track to join the EU by 2025, to help Ukraine achieve a similar accession path.
In Novi Sad, the UWC leader attended divine liturgy at Ss. Peter and Paul Greek-Catholic Church, and then held a community meeting at this parish. Participating were the Greek-Catholic Apostolic Exarch in Serbia, Bishop Djura Džudžar, clergy of the Greek-Catholic Church in Vojvodyna, and presidents and representatives of various community organizations, including several UWC member organizations: the Union of Ruthenians-Ukrainians of Serbia, Prosvita Society of Ukrainian Language, Literature and Culture, National Council of the Ukrainian National Community and National Council of the Ruthenian National Community. This meeting was reported on by Ukrainian-language media, including Radio-Televizija Vojvodina.
The UWC president also met with ambassador of Ukraine in Serbia, Oleksandr Aleksandrovych, and the Chargé d’affaires ad interim of the Embassy of Canada to Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, Brian Ebel.
Mr. Czolij also had an opportunity to discuss with the president of the Serbian World Congress (SWC), Zoran Jovičić, and representatives of Serbian civil society the work of the UWC and the SWC. On March 6, he was interviewed by Radio-Televizija Serbia.
The UWC President was accompanied to separate meetings by the first secretary for policy, cultural cooperation and media relations of the Embassy of Ukraine in Serbia, Nataliya Markevych; the president of the Prosvita Society, Miroslav Hochak; and the director of the UWC Mission to International Organizations in Brussels, Maryna Iaroshevych.