On May 10, 2023, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute signed a cooperation agreement between the Ukrainian Peace Council, the International Charitable Foundation "Independent Ukrainian Media Center in Europe" and the All-Ukrainian newspaper for scientists and educators "Svit".
Much of it is devoted to cooperation in the information sphere. And it is no accident. As Mykhailo Zgurovsky, the rector of the KPI and, at the same time, the chairman of the Ukrainian Peace Council, reminded before signing this document, a number of organizations, politicians, and even individual states understand the restoration of peace in Ukraine as the establishment of peace on the terms put forward by Russia, with the question of returning the territories it occupied, recognizing its demands that Ukraine not join the EU and NATO, agreeing to a neutral status, etc. But for our country, this is unacceptable. "For Ukraine, as we feel and understand it, this is a postponed conflict, and perhaps a postponed even bloodier war. Therefore, Ukraine has developed its own vision of peace. It was presented by the President of Ukraine last November at the G20 meeting and formulated as the Ukrainian "peace formula," he stressed. "The main content of the Ukrainian "peace formula" is that Ukraine, together with the democratic world, should create conditions and guarantees for further peace, under which the civilized world will return to a world order that will not allow violation of the sovereignty of any country, violation of peace and any aggression.
As you know, the ten points of this formula have other very important components. Mykhailo Zgurovsky also reminded of them: "This includes preserving the ecosystem, the environment in which we live, preserving the sovereignty and independence of countries, based on many previous international documents that have been recognized by the international community - the decisions of the Yalta and Helsinki conferences of the last century and many others that once established a world order that did not allow any wars and conflicts to arise."
So today it is very important to spread and communicate to Europe and the world the Ukrainian vision of ways to achieve peace and, in fact, the very idea of what kind of peace is acceptable for our country. After all, Ukrainians will not accept "peace" on the terms of the aggressor - with the abandonment of our temporarily occupied territories and without the withdrawal of Russian troops and private criminal groups from the territory of our country, with forgiveness for war criminals, traitors and collaborators, with a departure from the declared course of joining NATO and European structures, without guarantees of radiation and nuclear safety, etc. Mykhailo Zgurovsky also spoke about this: "By establishing close cooperation with the International Charitable Foundation "Independent Ukrainian Media Center in Europe", we are primarily looking forward to the possibility of spreading our vision of the Ukrainian "peace formula" to the European space and beyond, taking advantage of the fact that your media center is quite successful, has a large audience, and if it opened the door to our content, our messages, we could spread them more effectively."
On the other hand, the ability to receive unbiased information from international partners is also important for Ukrainian citizens. One of the channels for its dissemination should be another participant in this agreement, the Svit newspaper, a publication for scientists and educators, a journal of the Ukrainian intelligentsia.
Yuriy Shcherbak, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Charitable Foundation "Independent Ukrainian Media Center in Europe," a well-known Ukrainian writer, diplomat, scholar and public figure, spoke about the goals of the foundation he heads and noted that the cooperation agreements set forth in the agreement fully correspond to the areas of its activities. "In particular, we welcome and will cooperate with the very reputable Svit newspaper," he said. "We try to publish our materials in three languages: Ukrainian, Polish and English. We have 200-400 thousand readers, not only in Ukraine, but also in Poland and other EU countries, as well as in the United States. We will be publishing materials from Svit newspaper. We hope that Svit newspaper will also look at our publications."
The activities of the media center include fighting, primarily in the information sphere, against Russian aggression, racism and Putinism, supporting the Ukrainian national identity of people who find themselves abroad, and promoting strategic friendly relations between Ukraine and Poland, where the organization operates. Thus, the agreement also provides for the establishment of the Ukrainian-Polish Peace Foundation, a non-governmental organization that will involve Ukrainians permanently or temporarily residing in Poland and will be engaged in peacekeeping activities in the European Union, based on the Ukrainian "peace formula" and foresight studies of socio-political processes, that identify trends and ways to prevent and overcome global and regional conflicts.
Thus, cooperation in a very important area for our country has begun. And, perhaps, its most important task today is to help ensure that the Ukrainian "peace formula" becomes the "peace formula" of the whole world.
Ukrainian Peace Council expands its borders
The Ukrainian Peace Council, the International Charitable Foundation "Independent Ukrainian Media Center in Europe" and the All-Ukrainian newspaper for scientists and educators "Svit" signed a cooperation agreement at Kyiv Polytechnic.
Cooperation involves active work in the information space, expansion of media borders and strengthening of ties with Poland.