November 14, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
UWC PRESIDENT MEETS WITH LITHUANIA’S UKRAINIAN COMMUNITY
On November 5-7, 2011, during a visit to Vilnius, Lithuania, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij had an opportunity to familiarize himself with the activities of the organized Ukrainian community in Lithuania, meet with representatives of the country’s leadership and Ukraine’s ambassador, and pay his respects at memorial markers.
The visit was organized by the Ukrainian Community in Lithuania and its President, Viktor Cernisuk. On November 5, Eugene Czolij was interviewed on the first national television station in Lithuania during which he highlighted UWC’s main activities, particularly its support of Ukraine’s democratization and Euro-integration.
On November 6, the UWC President attended Divine Liturgy at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, discussed church issues with parish priest Father Pavlo Jachimec, and met with the local Ukrainian community. He informed the community about UWC’s work over the past year, including presentations of current Ukrainian issues to international institutions and to the leadership of countries where people from the Ukrainian diaspora reside. Eugene Czolij also paid tribute to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko at a monument erected in his honour.
On November 7, the UWC President held official meetings with Lithuania’s Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, Speaker of the Parliament Irena Degutiene, and Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavicius. More information on these meetings is available at https://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/news.php/news/626/lang/en. Eugene Czolij also met with the Ambassador of Ukraine to Lithuania, Valerii Zhovtenko. During the meeting, the UWC President focused attention on the European Parliament resolution of 27 October 2011 on the current developments in Ukraine and called upon Ukraine to respect European values.
