Discussion about the present and future of Ukraine together with British researcher Joan Hoy

On March 18 indoors  of ESC "Institute of Agrarian Economics" a meeting of NULES of Ukraine students, postgraduates and lecturers was held with a British researcher and journalist Joan Hoy, director of the Democracy Index, member of The Economist Intelligence Unit. Ms. Joan is currently on a trip to Ukraine and is collecting materials for her future publications on the impact of the russian invasion on Ukrainian society. Therefore, she was happy to talk to the participants of the event about their vision of the outlined problems.

During the discussion, they expressed a vision of how expected or unexpected the large-scale Russian aggression in February 2022 turned out to be, what ideals Ukrainians are fighting for in this war, and how they see the future of our state and the world order. The participants agreed that moscow's war against Ukraine has been waged for years using a variety of methods, including in the cultural and scientific spheres. Therefore, the victory in this war should be not only the return of all illegally occupied Ukrainian territories, but also the final liberation from the remnants of the colonial past. An important conclusion was that the war United Ukrainians from all over the country, strengthened the unity of the Ukrainian nation.

Ms. Joan also shared her experience working in central and Eastern European countries, particularly during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, as director of the Democracy Index, she paid special attention to the development of democracy and the rule of law in Modern Ukraine. Representatives of other Ukrainian universities, in particular Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Hryhoriy Skovoroda University in Pereyaslav, also joined the discussion.
Students of specialty "International relations, public communications and regional studios" were particularly active in the communication process. First year student Daria Dombrovska noted that she was incredibly pleased to hear that the UK and its people are aware of all events and express their incredible support not just in their favor. "It was interesting to listen to Ms. Joan's position on the situation in our country, her answers to the questions of the meeting participants and her questions themselves. Joan Hoy sincerely wants to convey to the people of Britain the thoughts of Ukrainians and help us in the information space," Daria notes.

While waiting for the meeting, international students visited the stock collection of old books of the Central scientific agricultural library of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine. Director of the library, professor Viktor Verhunov introduced the audience to old printed books that are more than 150 years old. These unique publications, some of which took more than 20 years to create, are hand-written. The size of the smallest one is 10x18 CM.; the largest – more than 1 meter in height and width. All the drawings made by the authors two centuries ago, in the "3D" format, as we were personally able to see by touching the rarities. The funds themselves amount to more than млн 1 million. instances. Mr. Viktor kindly invited the students to visit, promising to conduct a more detailed tour of the library's collections and backstage at the next meeting.

Bohdan Hrushetsky,
associate professor of the department of international relations and social sciences,
Olena Kropyvko,
associate professor of the department of international relations and social sciences