On Thursday, July 9, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha, while on a working visit to Ankara, delivered a video address to the participants of the Conference of Ukrainian Studies “Ukraine in the World”, which was held in Lviv at the Ukrainian Catholic University. The event brought together over 250 scholars, teachers and translators from six continents in Ukraine for the first time in a decade.

During the grand opening, the participants were welcomed online by the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian policy of Ukraine – Minister of Culture of Ukraine Tetyana Berezhna, Head of the Lviv Regional State Administration Maksym Kozytskyy, Director General of the Ukrainian Institute Volodymyr Sheiko, Rector of UCU Taras Dobko, and representatives of partner foundations and organizations.

Andrii Sybiha emphasized that the revival of the conference “Ukraine in the World” today has not only academic, but also security significance.

“After all, when the Ukrainian voice, Ukrainian knowledge, and the Ukrainian perspective are absent, this space is quickly filled by foreign, often imperial, interpretations. In times of war, Ukrainian studies around the world are a matter of our defense. They are a response to attempts to take away our language, destroy our roots, our memory, and our voice. It is precisely these studies that are standing up to the aggressor today”, the Minister noted.

The Foreign Minister emphasized that in times of war, Ukrainian studies in the world are a matter of Ukraine’s defense and a response to attempts to take away the Ukrainian language, destroy the roots, memory, and voice of Ukrainians.

“For every Russian strike on the Ukrainian library, we create ten new bookshelves on other continents. In response to every attempt to erase our history, we create new courses, studies, archives, translations, conferences, and academic programs”, the diplomat emphasized.

Andrii Sybiha stressed the importance of transforming interest in Ukraine into new educational and research centers. According to him, it is not only about the humanitarian dimension: Ukraine today must be present in security studies, medicine, modern technologies, and exact sciences. According to the Ukrainian Institute, there are already 200 centers of Ukrainian studies in the world.

The Foreign Minister noted that the Global Coalition for Ukrainian Studies has become a tool that transforms attention to Ukraine into systematic knowledge about the country. The Minister highlighted the leadership of Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska and her efforts to give this project a global dimension.

“Today, the coalition already unites 92 universities from 26 countries of the world. And together we continue to expand the geography and influence of this network. I would also like to remind you that since 2022, the Ukrainian Institute has been consistently implementing the Lysiak-Rudnytsky Ukrainian Studies Programme. During this time, 34 projects from 13 countries have been supported. The total amount of support was 22 million hryvnias”, the Minister noted.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs thanked the Ukrainian Institute, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Catholic University, the Global Coalition for Ukrainian Studies, the International Renaissance Foundation, the Mnozhyna Foundation, and the city of Lviv for organizing the event.