Following the initiative of and receiving support from the International Renaissance Foundation, the Centre will be developing a special area in its work — build-up of a communication bridge between representatives of the civil society and citizens from various regions (federal lands) of Germany.
Understanding Ukraine for Germany and for the future of Europe.
In the Public Hub of Berlin, the Centre for Liberal Modernity (Zentrum Liberale Moderne) was opened. Its founders are Marieluise Beck, leading member of the Green Party, and Ralf Fuecks, former mayor of Bremen and member of the Heinrich Boell Foundation. They are well known to the Ukrainian public as consistent defenders of the independent Ukraine who research its special role in establishing democracy among the post-Soviet countries and openly condemn the Russian aggression in Crimea and in Eastern Ukraine at the European Parliament.
The main objective of the Centre is to study complicated changes in the political philosophy and practice of the modern liberalism which is confronted with the rise of national cultural interests versus the global agenda as well as strengthening conservative national policies. At the same time, the Centre itself will continue to defend fundamental liberal values including individual rights and liberties.
These values, changes in their content as well as challenges confronting the ideology of modern liberalism, especially in the countries presently governed by right nationalist parties, were addressed in the speech of Joachim Gauck, former President of Germany and a former Lutheran priest and a human rights activist.
At the opening ceremony, the research goal of the Centre Liberale Moderne was presented by Ralf Fuecks and Marieluise Beck, who put a special accent on the Ukrainian case. They pointed out that Ukraine, with its focus on democratic reforms and resistance against Putin’s Russia, is crucial for establishing modern democracy in Eastern Europe and understanding the European development prospects of liberal democracy.
Following the initiative of and receiving support from the International Renaissance Foundation, the Centre will be developing a special area in its work — build-up of a communication bridge between representatives of the civil society of Ukraine and citizens from various regions (federal lands) of Germany. Different free voices of the civil society shall make themselves heard through direct contacts between its leaders and German journalists as well as representatives of communes from various regions of Germany.
The opening ceremony was also attended by Andriy Melnyk, Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany.
The original text about the opening ceremony and more photos may be found on the page of the Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation Yevhen Bystrytsky.
