April 27, 2010, an interactive seminar “European Integration: Ukrainians’ Expectations” was held in the premises of the European Information Center in Mykolaiv Oblast Universal Scientific Library named after O. Hmyryov.
The event took place within the framework of the project “Further activities of the Centre of European Information in Regional Universal Scientific Library in Mykolaiv”, which is carried out under the support of the European Program of the International Renaissance Foundation and according to the State purpose-oriented program for informing the public about the issues of European integration of Ukraine.
Shevchuk Oleksandr Volodymyrovych, Doctor of Political Sciences, Assistant Professor of the Chair of International Relations and Foreign Policy of the Petro Mohyla Black Sea State University, was present at the seminar. Speaking in front of the student audience, he emphasized: “Ukraine’s entry to the EU is not an end in itself, but a way to improve legal, economic, political, cultural and civilization conditions of life.” “Unfortunately, so far Ukraine has not become a subject of international life and it is still an object, when its fate is decided in Moscow, Brussels and Washington”, said Shevchuk.
He provided several possible development scenarios for Ukraine and its relations with the European Union. The scenarios included a pessimistic one, under which Ukraine, if it does not bring its legal relations in line with European standards, will not develop its economy to be capable enough for making financial contributions to the EU and there is a possibility that the country will transform into a raw-material appendage for the EU countries.
Zakharchenko Oleksiy Oleksiyovych, Director of the European Information Center, senior lecturer of Ukrainian history of Mykolaiv State University named after V.O. Sukhomlynsky, illustrated his speech with poetic quotations for the sake of imagery. Regarding the topic of the seminar, he emphasized: “Geopolitical condition of countries always leaves its imprint on their development. The same regards Ukraine that has always been on the crossroads of paths.” “Ukrainians need to get rid of their feeling of collaterality”, said Zakharchenko.
He provided parallels that develop in the course of the history. For example, before the World War II the number of population in Ukraine decreased significantly and the same thing is happening now when growth of the population is falling down.
“Ukraine just needs to become a powerful country, capable to protect itself in order to independently decide its own fate and for that the country needs the consolidation within its borders, it needs to unite itself”, said Zakharchenko.
The youth audience was eager to speak in public and readily expressed their thoughts regarding the European path for the country and there was one such opinion: “Ukraine must support its culture and spirituality, but it also needs to learn culture of behavior and culture of every day life in European countries.” And there was such a thought: “Sometimes young people have pessimistic vision because they don’t see changes for the better that politicians declare in their election campaigns.”
Additional information about the event can be obtained from:
Nataliya Moiseyeva: (0512) 37-34-92, eurocentre_mk@ukr.net
Tetyana Golubeva: (0512) 36-08-08, holtatal@yandex.ru
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The European Information Center was created by Mykolaiv Oblast Branch of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine in cooperation with and on the basis of Mykolaiv Oblast Universal Scientific Library named after O. Hmyryov. The Center is a part of the European Information Center’s Network, supported by the European Program of the International Renaissance Foundation.
The goal of the European Information Center in Mykolaiv is to provide city residents with access to literature and other materials on European integration from periodicals and information in the Internet.
