23-28 August 2018, a delegation of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) leadership comprised of Stefan Romaniw, UWC Secretary General, Chair of the UWC Holodomor Coordinating Committee and President of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, 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 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, and Ukrainian youth from the diaspora.
Delegation members represented the UWC at state events celebrating the 27th anniversary of the independence of Ukraine, and addressed the XIII 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, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy, First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee for Foreign Affairs Hanna Hopko, Deputy Heads of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine 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 23 August 2018, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko awarded Andrew Futey, President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, the Order of the 3rd Rank “For Achievements”.
While in Ukraine, the representatives of the UWC leadership participated in and addressed the II World Congress of Ukrainian Youth Organizations (WCUYO) and met with the newly-elected WCUYO leadership including President Dmytro Lekartsev.
In the photo from left: S. Kasyanchuk (second), A. Futey, S. Kubiv, S. Romaniw and P. Grod (seventh)
