U.S.-Ukraine working group’s summit to follow on June 15
WASHINGTON – The Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS), the Washington public-affairs bureau of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), will sponsor its second Ukrainian Days advocacy event on Wednesday, June 14, 2017. The endeavor in June 2017 is especially significant, as it will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Commencing work in 1997 under the co-chairmanship of Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and former Rep. Jon Fox (R-Pa.), the caucus has been instrumental in its advocacy of more robust U.S.-Ukraine relations; has interacted with their counterparts in the Ukrainian Parliament; met and organized meetings for visiting Ukrainian delegations; and, became a conduit for the Ukrainian community to express its concerns.
In view of the three-year old war being waged in eastern Ukraine by joint Russian-separatist forces, the goal of Ukrainian Days is to encourage members of Congress to appropriate military assistance to Ukraine to fend off the terrorists and preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence; to continue the sanctions regime against the Russian Federation for its illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula and non-implementation of the Minsk peace accords; and, to advocate for an official non-recognition policy for the annexation of Crimea.
The Ukrainian Days event will feature a special congressional reception to celebrate the many achievements of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus during the past two decades. The “Friend of UNIS” award will also be presented to individuals who have contributed to the betterment of U.S.-Ukraine relations. At the same time, the speaker of Ukraine’s Parliament, Andriy Parubiy, and Acting Minister of Health Ulana Suprun will be in Washington for meetings with U.S. government officials. The speaker and the minister have been invited to participate in the Ukrainian Days congressional reception.
The next day, Thursday, June 15, the fifth “US-UA Working Group Yearly Summit” will also take place in Washington. The full-day conference organized by the Center for U.S.-Ukrainian Relations (CUSUR), will assess Ukraine’s performance in six areas of nation building: Robust Democratic Politics; Developed Market Economics; Ever Greater General Security; Ever Greater Energy Security; Viable Social Cohesion; and Established National Identity. The conference will also highlight two discussions of “Why a Free, Stable and Prosperous Ukraine Still Matters” from the U.S. government perspective, as well as from the U.S. NGO perspective. The event is co-sponsored by the UCCA and all of CUSUR’s institutional partners.
Further information about the events of June 14-15 will be forthcoming on the UNIS Facebook page and the UCCA website at www.ucca.org.