The President of the Ukrainian World Congress Eugene Czolij traveled to Poland from August 20 to 23, 2010 for UWC’s Annual General Meeting. While in Poland, Czolij met with local Ukrainian religious and civic leaders, representatives of Ukraine’s diplomatic corps and the Mayor of Przemysl, and visited several Ukrainian community institutions.
Warsaw
On August 20, Eugene Czolij visited the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Josaphat where he viewed the church, library and church hall. During a meeting with Father Petro Kuszka, he discussed Ukrainian religious and civic life in Warsaw.
That same day the UWC President visited the Embassy of Ukraine in Poland, where he met with Charge’s d’affaires Andriy Sybiha, First Secretary Ostap Lukyanchuk and the Secretary of the Association of Ukrainians in Poland (ZUP) Myroslaw Kupicz. They discussed the current state of affairs in Ukraine, Ukrainian-Polish relations, the state of local Ukrainian affairs and the importance of securing the return of the Narodny Dim (literally “Peoples’ Home”) building in Przemysl to the Association of Ukrainians in Poland.
The UWC President paid his respects at the monument to the Great Kobzar Taras Shevchenko located in the park bearing his name in the Polish capital.
Escorted by Myroslav Kupicz, Czolij visited the offices of the Association of Ukrainians in Poland (ZUP) and the Ukrainian weekly Nashe Slovo where they met with the newspaper’s Editor-in-chief Jaroslaw Prystasz.
On August 21, the UWC President joined Mariusz Babiak from the Plast scouting organization at the Orthodox cemetery in Warsaw where they placed candles to monuments honoring Holodomor victims and soldiers of the Ukrainian Peoples’ Republic (1917-1920), and the grave of Myron Kertyczak, former president of ZUP.
Przemysl
On August 22 and 23, 2010, Eugene Czolij presided over UWC’s AGM in Przemysl, a city where Ukrainians have lived for centuries.
On August 23, UWC President Eugene Czolij, ZUP President Petro Tyma and the President of ZUP’s Przemysl branch Maria Tucka met with the Mayor of Przemysl Robert Choma on August 23. The UWC president thanked Mr. Choma for his participation in the UWC’s AGM and his guarantees for the return of the Narodny Dim to the Ukrainian community. The UWC president raised the issues of the one hundred year anniversary of the Markian Shashkevych Ukrainian school in the city scheduled to be commemorated in 2011 and the restoration of street names in Przemysl previously named in honour of Taras Shevchenko, Markian Shashkevych and2 Ulyana Kravchenko. The Mayor of Przemysl reiterated his promise concerning the Narodny Dim. He said that the local government intends to allocate funds for repairing the century-old school in preparation for its anniversary and that, in the future, new streets in Przemysl will be named in honour of prominent Ukrainians.
Pikulychi Village
On August 22, a UWC delegation laid wreaths to the memorial markers honouring soldiers of the Ukrainian Galician Army (UHA) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) located in the Pikulychi village military cemetery.
 |
Photo Gallery |
