Europe Day 2025: sharing Ukraine’s story at the heart of Europe

Author: Kateryna Kalyta

As a Young European Ambassador, I was honoured to attend the Europe Day celebrations in Brussels on 9-10 of May. During these two days, I, along with other YEAs from the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU, engaged in various activities, from team building and content creation to volunteering at the ‘Support for Ukraine’ stand at the European Commission.

My personal motivation to attend the event was my firm belief in the integration of Ukraine, and my aspiration to be a part of the integration process and to raise awareness for the current situation internationally. Beyond that, I was eager to gain new experience and boost my practical skills, such as teamwork, negotiation, etc.

As part of our work at the ‘Support for Ukraine’ stand, my fellow Ambassadors and I were offering a small souvenir to the visitors. However, we initially faced the issue of people simply passing by and grabbing a gift, without engaging further. Thus, we came up with some activities such as quizzes to involve people more and raise their awareness for Ukraine, the full-scale invasion and the country’s integration into the EU. For example, to win a gadget from Ukraine, people first had to estimate, for example, the total amount of financial support provided by the EU to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion.  Another question was, “Is Ukraine a candidate to the EU, member of the Union or neither?”

Even though many people claimed not to know much about Ukraine and couldn’t answer the questions, they were very open to discovering more. Some individuals were asking follow-up questions on the quiz topics. Similarly, while volunteering at the stand of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST) and talking to visitors about the initiative’s activities, many young people showed a great interest in the YEA events and the opportunity to join us. 

It was very interesting for me to interact with so many people from diverse backgrounds and with different opinions. Europe Day 2025 taught me how to keep people’s attention, convey convincing messages, stay resistant and respectful towards negativity and more. In practice, I understood the significance of being proactive and taking the initiative. 

Beyond that, I was exceptionally grateful to meet other YEAs: communicating with them has been an inspiring and insightful experience for me. Learning about other people’s experiences has further broadened my horizons and proved to me how many possibilities are out there.

These two days made me think about the deep differences in the perception of war and European integration among different people. It became clear to me that an informed society is a necessity if we want to build solidarity in Europe. I also understood how important it is to talk about the atrocities war brings, not to reduce Ukraine to only a war, but to show its strength and importance in combatting totalitarianism.

In addition, seeing how many youngsters were interested in the YEA activities has really emphasised the importance of youth empowerment and participation to me.   

Finally, I’ve realised that my role as a young activist is not just to represent my country or an initiative, but to be a bridge: between East and West, between indifference and awareness, between information and action.