The third annual Dialogues on Europe forum has come to an end in Uzhhorod. On Europe Day, public intellectuals and political experts from Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Germany, Armenia and Croatia gathered in the westernmost region of Ukraine to rethink the ideas of a united Europe and a new Central Europe.
Andriy Lyubka, Director of the Institute for Central European Strategy, said: “This year’s forum was very successful. We were able to attract many new participants from different countries – those on whom our European integration directly depends. We also managed to build new partnerships with the civil society sector of Ukraine. It was thanks to this synergy – which brought together local, national, regional and international levels – that we were able to engage in an expert, in-depth and open conversation. We talked about what separates us, where there are points of contact that can be developed now, and where there are barriers that will not be overcome in the near future. We believe that this work will continue – on a horizontal level: between people and between institutions.”
This year’s forum was opened by writer and philosopher Oksana Zabuzhko with a keynote speech entitled ‘Today, all of Europe is Central Europe’. The writer is convinced: “The general universal formula that Ukraine is defending Europe and its independence is a holy truth. But, among other things, Ukraine is also defending a new model of globalisation – one in which Europe should lead the way. What should we preserve as uniquely European, what is the foundation of European values? I solve this problem in my own way. For me, Europe is described by a quadriga – a four-part formula: Rome, Paris, Canossa, Magdeburg. What it means: Rome – the rule of law, Paris – human rights, Canossa – separation of secular and spiritual power, and Magdeburg – local self-government, self-organisation on the ground, all of which stretched to the eastern borders of Ukraine: the eastern border of Magdeburg law is Poltava, Kharkiv and our Sumy region, which is now actively under fire. These are the four pillars on which the value of European civilisation is built, which is worth fighting for, worth fighting for.”
Read Oksana Zabuzhko’s full speech on Liga.net.
Other participants of the discussions were Maksym Butkevych, human rights activist and serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Thomas Birringer, Director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Ukraine, Krzysztof Chyzewski, founder of the Borderland Foundation (Poland), Claudiu Comartin, writer and translator, vice president of PEN Romania (Romania), Csilla Fedinec, senior researcher at the Institute for Minority Studies, Centre for Social Sciences (Hungary), Armen Aghanyan, writer, President of PEN Armenia, Ihor Koliushko, Chairman of the Board, Centre of Policy and Legal Reform (Ukraine), Attila Demko, Head of the Strategic Foresight Programme, John Lukacs Institute (Hungary), Andras Rath, Senior Research Fellow, German Society on Foreign Relations, Liubov Akulenko, Executive Director, Ukrainian Centre for European Policy, Andriy Lyubka, Director, Institute for Central European Strategy (Ukraine).
The focus topics of this year’s Dialogues on Europe forum were:
- Europe between Russia, China and the United States: A New Geopolitical Reality for an Old Continent. What should the new Europe look like in the new geopolitical reality
- We are all Central Europe now: rethinking Kundera’s concepts of Mitteleuropa and Central Europe in the context of Russian aggression and the US desire to withdraw from Europe
- How to explain Ukraine to the polarised societies of Central Europe – Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic
- Ukraine’s path to the EU lies through Central Europe and the good neighbourhood: What to do with the Hungarian veto, how to prevent vetoes from Slovakia and Romania
- Democratic sustainability during EU accession: Risks, guarantees and strategic coordination
During the discussion, Ihor Koliushko, Chairman of the Board of the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform, stressed the need to abandon the ‘zero sum’ thinking in relations between members of the European community: “The success of your neighbour is always your advantage. If the members of the European Union start thinking that if someone else has something, then we have lost something, this is the wrong way to go. The zero-sum principle is the way to the disappearance of any cooperation and coexistence in the European Union.”
Liubov Akulenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Centre for European Policy, also called for a paradigm shift in the perception of Ukraine’s integration: “Ukraine and the EU have a huge potential for joint development. Together we can become the largest agricultural exporter in the world. We need to change the focus of the discussion – instead of discussing the problems that Ukraine allegedly creates, we should focus on how to effectively address the common challenges of the future.”
The Dialogues on Europe 2025 forum is supported by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework of the joint initiative ‘Joining the EU together’, MATRA programme, Dilemma project and in partnership with the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform, the Reanimation Package of Reforms Coalition and Democracy Reporting International (DRI).
Source: Reanimation Package of Reforms
