UWC President: Ukrainians diaspora emerging as a political force abroad

Ukrainian communities abroad are gaining political influence in their host countries, which is critical for protecting Ukraine’s interests, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Paul Grod said in an interview with Ukrainian Radio, summarizing the outcomes of the Forum of Ukrainians of Eastern Europe. 

“It is very important that our communities actively come together and strengthen support for Ukraine. We need to become a political force in the countries where we live,” Grod said.

Eastern Europe, he added, is a strategically important region for Ukraine, both because of the large number of temporarily war-displaced Ukrainians and the political uncertainty in several countries, including Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. 

In this context, Russian disinformation poses a particularly serious challenge.

“We see that Russian agents and disinformation are very active there, trying to create hostility between Ukrainians and the citizens of the countries where they live,” he said.

At the same time, Grod emphasized that this does not mean creating separate Ukrainian political parties abroad. On the contrary, he encourages Ukrainians to integrate into existing political parties.

“We do not promote the formation of separate Ukrainian parties. On the contrary, we believe it is important for Ukrainians to join and integrate into the political parties that already exist in their countries,” he said, warning that separate parties could “allow Russia to create even greater hostility.”

As examples of successful integration, Grod pointed to Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, where Ukrainians participate in political life regardless of party affiliation and influence national policy.

The full interview can be found at the following link.