For Ukraine, this Forum is also important because it is a large international platform to talk about the war so that Europe and the whole world do not forget about the horrors that our country is going through right now in order to convince the world to stop to look for “good” russians and focus all their attention on crucial things – on supporting Ukraine.
Democracy: A New Hope?
This was the name of the Forum in 2022. The focus was on democracy: why is its spread slowing down? Why is democracy declining in some countries? How can it be fixed, and what democratic future is possible worldwide?
The speakers of various panels spoke about preserving democracy requires more significant efforts to educate and train new leaders. The Ukrainian delegation at the Forum emphasized that saving democracy is impossible until Ukraine wins the war with russia.
The first day of the Forum
Thanks to the speech of Olha Stefanyshyna, MP of Ukraine and 2016 USPS Alumna, the participants of the Forum observed a minute of silence in memory of the people who died in the war defending Ukraine.
People in Ukraine give their lives for democracy, freedom, and the right to choose. Europe must remember the price of a peaceful life. And this contrast between the ordinary everyday life of other European countries and the challenges that people in Ukraine overcome every day was perfectly illustrated by Alina Mykhailova.
Europe and the reconstruction of russia?
There is a full-scale war in Ukraine, which has put the fate of world democracy at stake. However, Europe wants to talk about more than that.
The topic of the war in Ukraine really sounded at the Forum, but more in the background. Instead, a separate discussion panel was devoted to the topic “Why did democracy not work out in russia?”. Although there were calls against russian aggression towards Ukraine, so called russian liberals also publicly voiced theses that not only Ukraine needs a “Marshall Plan” for reconstruction, but also russia. They emphasised that without russia, the world will not be able to overcome climate and other crises, so it should make more efforts to free russia from totalitarism.
The Ukrainian delegation did not stand aside and continually reminded the world of the importance of Ukraine’s victory. And that now is not the time to talk about the future of russia and the possibility of democracy there.
Our alumna Oksana Hlebushkina (2007) told the truth, which is very uncomfortable for russian “liberals”, about her experience of living under occupation in Kherson.
All this shows how much more needs to be said, explained, and proved at all possible international levels, so that the world hears and understands us. And when planning the future of Europe, it is necessary to clearly understand the role of russia in the problems that are currently affecting every European.
End of the Forum
The end of this year’s Forum was a real surprise. And very unpleasant one.
While Ukrainians are giving their lives for the sake of the future, for the sake of freedom and the victory of democracy over imperialism, at the Forum “liberal” russian imperialists were awarded diplomas.
There is no Ukrainian delegation in the photo because it is unacceptable for us to smile in the photo, standing next to the russians. Because we will never shake hands and applaud the “russian opposition”. Because for us, every russian is an enemy.
The Ukrainian School of Political Studies will continue to do everything possible to make the European community aware of this as well.
