On 21 November 2018, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij spoke at an event dedicated to the opening of the Chair of History of Ukrainian World Community at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
The UWC President congratulated Dean of the Chair Professor Volodymyr Serhiychuk on implementing this important initiative and expressed readiness on behalf of the UWC to contribute to the development of this newly established Chair.
Speaking of his expectations regarding the research priorities, Eugene Czolij expressed the hope that the Chair of History of Ukrainian World Community will focus on how the Ukrainian world community contributes to the representation of interests of the Ukrainian people throughout the world; how the Ukrainian world community fulfills its aspirations to preserve Ukrainian religious, linguistic, spiritual, historical, cultural and social heritage; how the Ukrainian world community engages in the protection of the independence, territorial integrity, national identity and economic development of Ukraine; how ties are forged between the Ukrainian communities in the diaspora and the Ukrainian state; the social status and the interests of Ukrainians and Ukrainian communities, and the mechanisms for protecting the rights of Ukrainians abroad; how the Ukrainian world community is involved in promoting the principles of democracy and human rights around the world, which includes monitoring democratic processes, for example, during elections and referenda; and the evolution of the cooperation of the Ukrainian world community with governments, organizations and individuals for the sake of achieving the above mentioned goals in the spirit of peace, freedom, equality and justice.
The UWC President also presented the work of the UWC in recent years in defending the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, including the protection of rights of Ukrainian citizens; promoting European and Euro-Atlantic integration; securing the granting of a Tomos of Autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; seeking Patriarchal Status for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; and furthering recognition of the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people. The UWC President expressed the hope that these issues would be properly elaborated and conceptualized in the work of this Chair.
“I sincerely congratulate Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv on the opening of the Chair of History of Ukrainian World Community and I anticipate many years of fruitful cooperation for the good of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
The video of UWC President’s speech can be read HERE.
