July 6, 2021 – Kyiv. Heads of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) as well as leaders of Ukrainian communities from South Africa and Italy participated in the all-Ukrainian forum “Ukraine 30. International Politics”. During his speech, UWC President Paul Grod emphasized the role of plural citizenship in Ukraine’s development.
According to the UWC President, the global diaspora wants Ukraine to become a democratic, independent, powerful state – a Euro-Atlantic partner. For this to happen, it is very important that Ukrainians worldwide can become citizens of Ukraine. That is why the Ukrainian World Congress supports the concept of plural citizenship.
“In collaboration with leading experts, we have developed and provided a range of proposals regarding the liberalization of legislation on plural citizenship as well as, most importantly in our circumstances, regarding the introduction of safety mechanisms in the interests of national security,” the UWC Executive Director Mariia Kupriianova noted during the forum.
“We need to shift from rhetoric to action. Work, cooperation, and understanding. The most important thing here is for us to realize that we are alone, but when we collaborate, be it on the economic development, the Holodomor Memorial, or education, we can do these things together and make some successes,” the First Vice President of the UWC Stefan Romaniw summed up the cooperation between diaspora and Ukraine.
Andriy Futey, President of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and the Third Vice President of the UWC, Dzvinka Kachur, President of the Ukrainian Association in South Africa, and Oles Horodetskyy, Chairman of the Christian Association of Ukrainians in Italy, also shared their thoughts on Ukraine’s international politics and cooperation with the diaspora.
The discussion was moderated by Iryna Kliuchkovska, Director of the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations (IECDR).
The full video of the “Ukraine 30. International Politics” forum can be found here.
