Blog: <strong>Celebrating Europe Day in York: Ukrainian and EU/UK YEAs mark solidarity in the face of war</strong>
May 25, 2023

Blog: Celebrating Europe Day in York: Ukrainian and EU/UK YEAs mark solidarity in the face of war


Vitalina Shevchenko, a Young European Ambassador (YEA) from Ukraine living in the UK and President of the Ukrainian Society at the University of York, recently hosted three YEAs to celebrate Europe day together at the university.  Vitalina was joined by Sofiia Korol, another YEA from Ukraine, as well as Freya Proudman and Anna Romanovska who represented the EU/UK YEAs Chapter. The team decided to organise a special event to discuss EU-Ukraine relations in the context of the Eastern Partnership, EU NEIGHBOURS East Project, and the Young European Ambassadors’ Initiative. They also facilitated a workshop about appropriate usage of terminology related to Ukraine.

By: Vitalina Shevchenko

Europe Day 2023 held a special significance for Ukraine, as it marked the first year that Ukrainians celebrated the 9th of May together with the EU community, as a new EU candidate country. Europe Day is a symbol of peace and unity, common values, and belonging to a single European family. That is why marking the day together, united with young people from the EU and UK in solidarity with Ukraine, was very important for Ukrainian YEAs abroad. 

One of our main aims was to highlight and reinforce the bond that exists between Europe and Ukraine, which has been strengthening since 2014, as a result of the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

The event consisted of three parts. First, we delivered a presentation about the Eastern Partnership, the EU NEIGHBOURS East programme, EU-Ukraine relations, the YEAs initiative and the activities that YEAs have been carrying out to support Ukraine. We encouraged the audience to learn more about Ukraine by reading blog posts written by EU, UK, and Ukrainian YEAs on our website. We also promoted several upcoming events that are open for the public to join! 

After that, the audience got a chance to participate in an interactive quiz with a focus on the Eastern Partnership countries. It was a great opportunity for the audience to reflect on what they had learned during the presentation,  and win some prizes for those who got the most answers correct.

The final part of the event was dedicated to running a workshop on the correct use of terminology related to the full-scale russian* invasion and which new words have come into our vocabulary since it began. This presentation was based on the blog-post “Language matters – a guide to talking about Ukraine” which was written in February 2022 by YEAs from the Dialogue Initiative EU-Ukraine Working Group. The group fosters connections and collaboration between EU, UK, and Ukrainian YEAs by organising joint campaigns, projects, and event.  Like the blog post, our workshop, challenged the most common myths and misunderstandings regarding the war. It was extremely valuable to have the perspectives of young people from both Ukraine and the EU/UK in the discussion, because it allowed us to cover a wide spectrum of problems in the media regarding the russian invasion. The audience discussed the dangers and problems of disinformation and in small groups, reflected on the importance of language and brainstormed ideas on how to combat disinformation. At the end of the session, the audience reflected on the event together. They shared their impressions and learnings, while reaffirming their commitment to keeping dialogue about Ukraine present in both the media and among the general public.

By collaborating with the University of York Ukrainian Society (ua@york), the YEAs initiative was able to connect with students in York and  expand its network with local youth communities and NGOs. It served as a fantastic reminder of the value of cooperation.

Finally, as Ukrainian YEAs, organising this in-person event in the UK was a memorable experience for Sofiia and I. Despite being away from home, we are committed to delivering crucial messages about the unlawful russian full-scale invasion of our country and actively engaging as many young people as possible to support Ukraine. The unwavering support from the local community of YEAs in the UK has undeniably been crucial to making it happen.

In summary, YEAs based in the UK continue their activities and cooperation is rapidly expanding to include more of the wider community, especially youth and student organisations.

 * We choose not to capitalise the country ‘russia’ or its adjective ‘russian’ as a way of showing support for Ukraine through written language. The atrocities committed by the russian regime and its supporters call for its non-recognition and isolation from the international community; hence, the symbolic choice to use an uncapitalised ‘r’.

Written by: Vitalina Shevchenko
Reviewed by: Freya Proudman




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