TORONTO – On September 13-15, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij fulfilled a working visit to Ukraine, during which he raised current Ukrainian issues with the president and prime minister of Ukraine; high-ranking officials of Ukraine, other countries and international institutions; and representatives of civil society.
While in Kyiv, the UWC leader discussed strategic issues related to combating Russian hybrid aggression, the development of the Ukrainian state, and recognition of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as a genocide of the Ukrainian people, particularly during the 15th Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting.
With President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, Mr. Czolij also discussed the commemoration in Ukraine of the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor and invited them to the XI Ukrainian World Congress to be held in Kyiv on November 24-27.
Mr. Czolij also thanked the president of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, for unwavering support for Ukraine in the defense of its territorial integrity.
The UWC president met separately with the president of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Andriy Meleshevych, to discuss future cooperation between the UWC and this university. Mr. Czolij was accompanied to this meeting by the director of the UWC Mission to Ukraine, Serhiy Kasyanchuk.
Among others with whom Mr. Czolij met were:
Volodymyr Ariev, Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden; Pat Cox, former president of the European Parliament; Artur Gerasymov, Head of the Delegation of Ukraine to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly; Pavlo Klimkin, minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine; Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, vice-prime minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration; Leonid Kuchma, former president of Ukraine; Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former president of Poland; Yuriy Lutsenko, prosecutor general of Ukraine; Hugues Mingarelli, European Union ambassador to Ukraine, head of the European Union delegation to Ukraine; Yevhen Nyshchuk, Minister of Culture of Ukraine; Kurt Volker, U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations; and Peter Wagner, head of the Support Group for Ukraine at the European Commission.
UWC delegation in Uraine
Earlier, on August 23-28, a delegation of the UWC leadership – comprising Stefan Romaniw, UWC secretary general, chair of the UWC Holodomor Coordinating Committee and president of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations; and UWC Vice-Presidents Paul Grod, chair of the UWC Committee in Support of Ukraine and president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and Andrew Futey, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America; together with the director of the UWC Mission to Ukraine Serhiy Kasyanchuk – participated in state events marking the anniversary of Ukraine’s independence and in official meetings with representatives of the governing authorities and civil society of Ukraine.
During a meeting with Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, vice-prime minister of Ukraine, (from left) are: Serhiy Kasyanchuk, Paul Grod, Minister Klympush-Тsintsadze, Stefan Romaniw, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S. Valery Chaly and Andrew Futey.
Delegation members represented the UWC at state events celebrating the 27th anniversary of the independence of Ukraine, and addressed the 13th meeting of the leaders of Ukrainian foreign diplomatic missions attended by ambassadors and permanent representatives of Ukraine to international organizations.
The representatives of the UWC leadership also held a series of meetings with representatives of Ukrainian churches, Verkhovna Rada Chair Andriy Parubiy, First Vice-Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv, Vice-Prime Minister Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee for Foreign Affairs Hanna Hopko.
They also met with the deputy heads of the Presidential Administration Kostiantyn Yelisieiev and Rostyslav Pavlenko, leaders of parliamentary groups and committees, representatives of the Western diplomatic corps, and a wide circle of representatives of community organizations.
Meetings involved discussion of current issues related particularly to the continued strengthening of cooperation between the diaspora and Ukraine, the international commemoration of the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor in Ukraine and throughout the world, joint support for Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations, support for international initiatives in the area of Ukraine’s security, development of civil society in Ukraine, and international monitoring missions and the upcoming elections in Ukraine.
On August 23, President Petro Poroshenko awarded UCCA President Futey the Order of the 3rd Rank “For Achievements.”
While in Ukraine, the representatives of the UWC leadership participated in and addressed the second World Congress of Ukrainian Youth Organizations and met with the newly elected leadership, including President Dmytro Lekartsev.