On 30-31 May 2018, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij fulfilled a working visit to Vilnius, Lithuania, during which he addressed a range of important Ukrainian issues with high-ranking government officials and the Ukrainian community in Lithuania.
During meetings with high-ranking government officials, the UWC President expressed gratitude to Lithuania for the consistent and unwavering support for the territorial integrity and European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of Ukraine. In conjunction with this, he discussed the constant shelling by the armed forces of the Russian Federation in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in violation of the Minsk agreements. The UWC President called for Lithuanians to promote the strengthening personal and targeted sanctions against the Russian Federation until it withdraws its forces from Donbas and de-occupies Crimea. In addition, Eugene Czolij focused attention on the global threats posed by the Russian Federation, such as cyberattacks, mass disinformation, meddling in the democratic processes of other countries and other destabilizing actions in Europe and the world. UWC President discussed with Lithuanian government officials the latest positive reforms in Ukraine. He also expressed gratitude to Lithuania for recognizing the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people.
On 30 May 2018, during a meeting with the Community Council at the Embassy of Ukraine in Lithuania, Eugene Czolij thanked the Ukrainian community of Lithuania for its dedicated work for the benefit of Ukraine in the process of reforming the state and in withstanding the ongoing hybrid aggression of the Russian Federation. He also familiarized himself with the issues facing the community and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation with the UWC. That day, the UWC President participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the monument to Taras Shevchenko in Vilnius attended by the parish priest of Holy Trinity Church in Vilnius, Fr. Vincentii Pelykh, Ambassador of Ukraine in Lithuania Volodymyr Yatsenkivskyi, Ukrainian students from the Donbas region and representatives of the Ukrainian community in Lithuania. Afterwards the delegation visitedthe monastery complex and Holy Trinity Church in Vilnius.
On 31 May 2018, during a meeting with President of Constitutional Court of Lithuania Dainius Žalimas, Eugene Czolij discussed Ukrainian judicial reform.
During meetings in Lithuania, the UWC President was accompanied by Ambassador of Ukraine in Lithuania Volodymyr Yatsenkivskyi and Director of the UWC Mission to International Organizations Maryna Iaroshevych.
“The Ukrainian World Congress expresses gratitude to Lithuanian authorities and civil society for their support of the Ukrainian people in their struggle against Russian hybrid aggression and in their efforts to build a European future”, stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
List of individuals with whom the UWC President met:
Bandis Vida, Lithuanian World Community Representative in Lithuania
Dabkevičius Zenonas, Vice-President of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
Kaunas Domas, Chairman of the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
Kubilius Andrius, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs, Member of the Group for Inter-Parliamentary Relations with Ukraine, Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
Norkus Zenonas, Member of the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
Pranckevičius Arnoldas, Head of Representation of the European Commission in the Republic of Lithuania
Radišauskienė Eglė, Vice-Minister of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania
Richardson Beth, Chargé d’affaires at the Embassy of Canada to the Republic of Lithuania
Skusevičius Darius, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
Stončaitis Algirdas, Chancellor of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania
Sučilaitė Lina, Adviser to the President of the Republic of Lithuania
Umbrasas Vytautas, Vice-Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania
Valkūnas Leonas, Chairman of the Division of Mathematical, Physical, and Chemical Sciences at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
Vilpišauskas Ramūnas, Dean of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University
Yatsenkivskyi Volodymyr, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine in the Republic of Lithuania
Žalimas Dainius, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania
In the photo from left: A. Stončaitis and E. Czolij
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