November 22, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
UWC PRESIDENT MEETS WITH STATE OFFICIALS AND THE UKRAINIAN COMMUNITY IN GERMANY
On November 18-19, 2011, during a visit to Berlin, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij met with high-ranking state officials and the local Ukrainian community in Germany.
The primary purpose of the visit was to meet separately on November 18 with the Head of the Division for Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe, Southeastern Caucasus and Central Asia of the Federal Chancellery, Dr. Christoph Israng, and Special Envoy for Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia of the Federal Foreign Office, Ambassador Patricia Flor. Eugene Czolij focused discussions on Ukraine’s integration into European structures, particularly the importance of initialing the Association Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine during the December 2011 EU Summit in Kyiv. Referring to the November 2, 2011 appeal to the European community by Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, the UWC President emphasized the need to distinguish between the aspirations of the Ukrainian people to join the EU and the actions of Ukraine’s government authorities which should not cause the postponement of the initialing of an agreement that is beneficial for Europe, Ukraine and Germany. Further, Eugene Czolij called upon Europe to demand that Ukraine’s government authorities adhere to fundamental freedoms and human rights, and release leading opposition politicians, Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuri Lutsenko. In addition, he encouraged the monitoring of the Ukrainian Parliamentary elections in 2012 and the active participation of international observers from Germany, particularly through the engagement of members of Ukrainian NGOs.
On November 19, 2011, the UWC President laid a wreath at a memorial plaque dedicated to Ukrainian poet Lesia Ukrainka and visited the former concentration camp in Sachsenhausen.
Later that day, the Central Association of Ukrainians in Germany headed by Ludmila Mlosch organized a community meeting. Eugene Czolij informed community members about recent events in Ukraine and the work of the UWC over the past year. He called upon the community in Germany to promote fundamental democratic values in Ukraine, support the aspirations of the Ukrainian people for Euro-integration and to actively participate in UWC projects, including an international observer mission from the Ukrainian diaspora during next year’s Parliamentary elections.
