On November 28, the Via Carpatia Forum took place in Lviv. The event, which annually unites Ukrainian and European intellectuals, scientists, public and political figures, volunteers, artists, educators, is being held for the eighth time.<\/p>\n
“We are holding a forum at one of the most difficult times for our present and future… Russia started and continues a war against Ukraine in order to rewrite history to restore its empire. Moscow’s goal is to erase the consequences of the collapse of the USSR and return Europe to the 1930s, when the world was ruled by force, including totalitarian regimes. Today we will discuss how to prevent this, we will talk about our democratic traditions… Our goal is for Ukraine to become a full member of the EU, despite all attempts to prevent it,” Mykola Kniazhytskyi, chairman of the subcommittee on cultural policy of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, People’s Deputy of Ukraine, initiator of the Forum, said during the opening.<\/p>\n
Pavel Koval, the head of the commission on international affairs of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, in his speech at the opening of the forum, emphasized that it is in Poland’s interests to expand the EU to the East to the Western Balkans. “There are various reasons for this – both strategic and security. We must demonstrate the political will to build a common Europe so that Ukraine enters the EU as soon as possible. And we must not assume that Russia blocks the expansion of the EU and NATO.”
He also recalled the words of Jerzy Gedroyc in the context of the prospects of Polish-Ukrainian relations, that “Europe will be united, one organism, with a common market, and old conflicts and competition will not matter.” “And I think we are close to this,” the Polish politician noted.<\/p>\n
“Ukraine is doing a great thing, creating a legend: Ukrainians at the front know what they are there for: because they love the Motherland and are sure that it is part of Europe. And no one in Ukraine will take that away,” Pavel Koval summed up.<\/p>\n
Taras Dobko, rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University, expressed concern about the fate of Central and Eastern Europe and the joint dialogue due to the actions of Hungary and Slovakia.<\/p>\n
“For years, the history of Ukraine’s membership in Europe has served as an alternative to Russian influence, a basis for our integration into the wider European space,” he noted. As for Polish-European relations, he noted that “if our relations are friendly, imperial Russia has no chance.”<\/p>\n
This year’s forum begins with the presentation of the unique trilogy “The Art of the Possible: A Democrat in the Era of Dictatorships and Totalitarianism” edited by professor and historian Ola Hnatiuk.<\/p>\n
The publication describes the era of the interwar period of the 20th century through the biographical history of the prominent Ukrainian Vasyl Mudry, deputy and vice-speaker of the Polish Diet in the 1930s, editor-in-chief of the Dilo newspaper.<\/p>\n
In the panel discussion “Integration of Ukraine into the EU. The role and place of Ukrainian-Polish relations in this process” will be attended by Olena Kondratyuk, Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 9th convocation; Mykola Kniazhytskyi, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Cultural Policy of the VRU Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, initiator of the Forum; Pavel Koval, Chairman of the International Affairs Commission of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, authorized by the Polish Government on the restoration of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, at the Via Carpatia Forum, the laureate of this year’s Stanis\u0142aw Vincenz Prize “For Humanistic Service and a Contribution to Regional Development” was announced.<\/p>\n
In previous years, the laureates of the Stanis\u0142aw Vincenz Prize were: Myroslav Marynovych, Ivan Malkovych, Leonid Finberg, Petro Rykhlo, Yuliia Paievska “Taira”, Yosyf Zisels and Rostyslav Derzhypilskyi.<\/p>\n
The Via Carpatia Forum was launched in 2018. It takes place every year – in Verkhovyna, Kryvorivna, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk or Kyiv. The initiator and founder is People’s Deputy Mykola Kniazhytskyi.<\/p>\n
Organizers of Via Carpatia 2025 – Public organization “All-Ukrainian Democratic Forum”, Ukrainian Catholic University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On November 28, the Via Carpatia Forum took place in Lviv. The event, which annually unites Ukrainian and European intellectuals, scientists, public and political figures, volunteers, artists, educators, is being held for the eighth time. “We are holding the forum at one of the most difficult times for our present and future… Russia has started and continues a war against Ukraine to rewrite history to restore its empire. The goal of Moscow…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[45,41,48,36,37,39],"class_list":["post-6349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-culture","tag-democracy-reforms-and-european-integration","tag-projects","tag-via-carpatia","tag-via-carpatia-en-25","tag-vincenz"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n