News

Institute of World Policy in partnership with CIDOB (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, Spain) organized two-day study visit of 27 European thought leaders – representatives of the best EU think tanks, editors, and leading journalists.It was the second such visit, organized by the IWP. The first one took place in May, 2014.
«A year ago the IWP invited leading European analysts to Ukraine to give them first-hand information about situation in Ukraine, so they can help us to deliver the truth about Russian aggression. Our initiative received many positive feedbacks and attracted attention of the stakeholders both in Ukraine and EU member states. This time we have a big delegation of European thought leaders who came to Kyiv (from the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, and Hungary) to learn about the challenges that Ukraine faces today and dispel some myths, cultivated by Russian disinformation machine. Our primary goal is to create a powerful expert network in support of European and democratic Ukraine”, – Alyona Getmanchuk, Director of the Institute of World Policy.
During the visit 27 European thought leaders met with the Ukrainian political leaders, members of parliament, leading Ukrainian political scientists and experts, regional leaders of public opinion from Donetsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, representatives of the civil society initiative Reanimation Reform Package, and others. Apart from it, the IWP organized a visit to the “museum of corruption” in the former residence of Viktor Yanukovych “Mezhyhirya”.

Participants of the visit: Anna Alonso Montes (editor-in-chief of Foreign Affairs, El Mundo), Luigi Ippolito (chief of the foreign desk, Corriere della Sera), Petr Kolář (civic activist, former Ambassador of Czech Republic to the USA, Russia), Lluís Bassets (Deputy Director, El País), Corentin Brustlein (research fellow, head of the Deterrence and Proliferation program, French Institute of International Relations), Boris Reitschuster (author of the political bestseller “Putins Demokratur, journalist), Steffen Dobbert (editor-in-chief, Zeit Online), Tim Judah (journalist, The Economist, New York Review of Books; author of several political bestsellers), Pietro Del Re (observer, La Republica), Kristof Bender (Deputy Chairman, European Stability Initiative), Anton Bendarzsevszkij (Director, Geopolitical Institute of Russia and Central Asia), Stefan Schocher (journalist, Foreign-Desk, Kurie), Kristi Raik (senior research fellow, Finnish Institute of International Affairs), .Emmanuel Grynszpan (correspondent, Le Parisien, Le Temps, La Presse), Frederic Pons (editor-in-chief, Valeurs Actuelles), Gilles Sengès (columnis, L’Opinion), André Eichhofer (journalist, Die Welt), Alexander Graef (fellow, University of St. Gallen, Institute of Political Science), Lucian Kim (journalist, Slate, Newsweek, Reuters, Die Zeit), Gemma Poerzgen (columnist, Frankfurter Rundschau, Stuttgarter Zeitung, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung), Andreas Schwabe (CEE Research, Raiffeisen Bank International AG), András Deák (senior research fellow, Hungarian Institute of International Affairs), Nona Mikhelidze (senior researcher, Istituto Affari Internazionali), Carmen Claudín (senior research fellow, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs), and others

In the evening of April 19 the participants of the visit enjoyed their welcome drink and a meal in the company of the IWP team, partners and donors of the project.
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The study visit for the European thought leaders` began with a journey to the “museum of corruption” in “Mezhyhirya”. Famous Ukrainian journalist, author of TV Program on corruption “Schemes” Natalia Sidletska told EU experts and journalists about the major corruption schemes of the former president’s “family”.

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Then our European delegation met with the Head of the Presidential Administration Boris Lozhkin and his deputies Dmytro Shymkiv and Rostyslav Pavlenko.
During working lunch the participants of the visit discussed Ukraine’s internal situation with the Members of the Parliament Oleh Bereziuk, Pavlo Rizanenko, Ostap Semerak, Aliona Shkrum, and Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Lytvynenko.
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Meeting with Andriy Parubiy, First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
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Meeting with Refat Chubarov, Head of the Council of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar People, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine.
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Working dinner with Ukrainian opinion and decision leaders: Yevhen Bystrytsky, Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation, Oleksii Makeiev, Political Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Volodymyr Ogryzko, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (2007-2009), Olesya Ostrovska-Lyuta, First Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine (2014), Josef Zissels, Head, Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine.
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Photos from the second day of the working visit are available here.

The visit was supported by:

“Ukraine National Initiatives to Enhance Reforms” (UNITER) project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Pact in Ukraine;

Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Ukraine;

“Initiative on the think tanks development in Ukraine”, operated by International Renaissance Foundation in partnership with the Think Tank Fund (TTF) and funded by the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine (SIDA).