IFNUL held a video conference dedicated to the celebration of Europe Day in Ukraine

IFNUL held a video conference dedicated to the celebration of Europe Day in Ukraine

MARCH 23, 2015 – On March 20, 2015 at the Faculty of International Relations a video conference Vilnius–Lviv “Lithuanian experience in implementing the European Union Association Agreement: how to build an effective information environmennt in Ukraine” was held. The event was initiated by the European Information Office of Seimas of Republic Lithuania, the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University and the Information Centre of the European Union at IFNUL.

Conference participants discussed the key terms and conditions for creating a safe information space in Ukraine and the individual steps for successful implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU. According to the deputy of the European Parliament Petras Austrevichus, Europe and Lithuania need to create an efficient IT environment that can support the Ukrainian information space and guide the transformation towards a European model of civilization.

Conference participants discussed the key terms and conditions for creating a safe information space in Ukraine and the individual steps for successful implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU. According to the deputy of the European Parliament Petras Austrevichus, Europe and Lithuania need to create an efficient IT environment that can support the Ukrainian information space and guide the transformation towards a European model of civilization. Head of the Department of International Relations and Diplomatic Service Markiyan Malskyy thanked the Lithuanian colleagues for generous support of Ukraine and faith in our country. One of the problems of Ukrainian media, according to Malskyy is their privatization and, as a result – the loss of control over the information field of the country.

During the conference there was discussed a need to create an optimal model of cooperation between the Government, the Parliament and the President of Ukraine through public broadcasting. In the circumstances of Russian aggression and the severe situation in the country, Ukraine has still made some progress, referring to the constitutional reforms in many areas. The scientists agree that much has been done. However, the degree of the progress is a bit lower than desired.

The participants of the conference supported the idea that the experience of conflict-management in foreign countries, primarily in Lithuania, is extremely important for Ukraine. In order to create an efficient informational space there should be organized numerous briefings, conferences and seminars, with the help of which it would be easier to communicate the information to the public step by step, since the journalists are the best communicators in this area.

The director of the International News Department of the Lithuanian National Radio and Television Vykintas Puhachauskas, speaking on the conference topics and summarizing the main ideas expressed during the video call, reported that the implementation of the Association Agreement depends only on the leaders of Ukraine. “In order to join the EU the country needs reforms to be carried out, and Ukrainian society must be ready to accept European values. Lithuania will always support Ukraine, because we have common problems. Like Lithuanian, Ukrainian society is a post-Soviet society. We are not talking about the information. We are talking about the society, which accepts Russian propaganda. The leading Russian channels are aimed at such audience”, – claimed Vykintas Puhachauskas. “We all need to have our own “agenda” and purposefully implement reforms. It is necessary to talk not only about the macro problems, but also about micro problems”– said the expert.

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