April 4, 2012
PRESS RELEASE
UWC PRESIDENT MEETS WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
AND THE UKRAINIAN COMMUNITY IN IRELAND
On March 29-31, 2012, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij travelled to Dublin, where he had an opportunity to present to Ireland’s high-ranking officials current issues of relevance to the international Ukrainian community and familiarize himself with the organizational and religious lives of local Ukrainians.
His visit to Dublin included official meetings with Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton and Department of Foreign Affairs Political Director David Donoghue. During the meetings, Eugene Czolij highlighted the deterioration of democracy in Ukraine and the violations of human rights, including the persecution of political opponents.
With Ukraine preparing to chair the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2013, the UWC President appealed to Ireland, as the current OSCE Chair, to exert pressure on Ukrainian governing authorities to uphold fundamental European values and to support Ukraine’s integration into the European Union. Eugene Czolij emphasized the determining role for Ukraine of the 2012 October Parliamentary elections and the fact that prominent opposition leaders, Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuri Lutsenko, must be released and enabled to participate in these elections. The UWC President also encouraged Ireland to ensure a large OSCE monitoring mission, including long- and short-term observers, to help guarantee a more honest and transparent electoral process in Ukraine.
In support of a request made by the Association of Ukrainians in Republic of Ireland (AURI), the UWC President asked that Ukrainian be included among the non-curriculum foreign languages available for credit toward a school leaving certificate. This would generate more interest in learning the Ukrainian language which is native to a great number of Ukrainian children in Ireland.
The visit also included meetings with the Ukrainian community, AURI President Alexander Yavorskyy, Fr. Vasyl Kornitsky of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Parish of the Martyr Nicholas Charnetskyi, the students and teaching staff of the Ukrainian Saturday school headed by Larisa Motruk. During the meetings, the following issues were discussed: Ukrainian community life, Ukrainian language education, UWC’s activities in support of Ukraine’s democratization and Euro-integration. Everyone pledged to work toward strengthening ties with UWC.
More information regarding the visit of the UWC President to Ireland is available on the AURI web site.
The UWC is an international coordinating body for Ukrainian communities in the diaspora representing the interests of over 20 million Ukrainians. The UWC has member organizations in 32 countries and ties with Ukrainians in 14 additional countries. Founded in 1967 as a non-profit corporation, the UWC was recognized in 2003 as a non-governmental organization (NGO) by the United Nations Economic and Social Council with special consultative status.
