On Thursday, July 24, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha took part in the panel discussion “Historical diplomacy: rediscovering Ukraine in the archives of the world” during the third day of the Meeting of Heads of Foreign Diplomatic Missions, where he emphasized the importance of developing historical diplomacy.
In his address to ambassadors and heads of structural divisions of the MFA, Andrii Sybiha stressed the need to preserve Ukraine’s national and historical memory in every corner of the world and instructed Ukrainian ambassadors to promote the study of Ukraine by foreign states in their host capitals.
“Our history has often been written for us in foreign capitals. We were deliberately erased from the historical map of the world. And now, thanks to the courage of our soldiers and the dedication of our researchers and historians, we are correcting a distorted history - for ourselves and for the world. It is impossible to form a proper understanding of a country without understanding its objective history,” the minister said.
The Foreign Minister expressed his belief that promoting Ukrainian contemporary art, and the works of talented writers and poets, will amplify Ukraine’s voice on the international stage.
“There can be no great, globally known art from a country that is unknown. Today, everyone knows Ukraine. We have a chance to scale up everything Ukrainian, including art,” he noted.
Andrii Sybiha highly praised the outcomes of the MFA’s historical project “P. Orlyk’s Residence. Rediscovering Ukraine in the archives of the world,” and noted that the initiative had led to the discovery of unique archival documents that experts can now study.
Project finalist Marina Trattner shared her experience in locating Ukrainian archival documents related to Ukrainian-Swedish cooperation during the Hetmanate era. The researcher wished Ukrainian diplomats success in defending Ukraine’s national memory abroad.
“We desperately need to recover as much information about Ukraine as possible, since Ukrainian historians have been blocked from accessing archives that were taken to Russia. Today, Russians are rewriting our history, adapting it to their propaganda. They are destroying Ukrainian identity,” she stated.
Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Oleksandr Alfyorov emphasized the importance of cooperation between the MFA and the Institute in the field of historical diplomacy.
“This is about our legacy. The Ukrainian Institute of National Memory already has dozens of volunteers in various corners of the world who are ready to work with Ukrainian diplomats on these projects abroad,” the historian added.
Head of the State Archival Service of Ukraine Anatolii Khromov noted that the archival component of cultural diplomacy is a very effective tool. This is evidenced by the number of digitized archival documents - 34 million digital copies in 2024. He thanked the heads of foreign diplomatic missions for constructive cooperation and expressed hope for its continuation.
“Against the backdrop of losses in Ukrainian cultural heritage due to Russian aggression, archives are showing quite strong results, including thanks to digitization and physical preservation. I once again want to thank the entire diplomatic corps, because thanks to international cooperation, Ukrainian archives have received material and technical assistance and resources for collaboration during the three years of war. And this has also helped us preserve our heritage,” noted Anatolii Khromov.