EU Politics Course 2.0

The course was developed and taught by experienced Ukrainian and foreign practitioners in international politics, European integration, economy, social sphere and communication. This year's EU Politics Course was a logical continuation of last year's course. Improved and modernized!

The participants had a wide geography in Ukraine and abroad. Among them were representatives of various fields and specialties.

One of the top speakers was Iratxe Garcia Perez, president of Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament. The leader shared the areas of work of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament. She spoke about the interests and principles that are upheld in the EU, and also inspired the participants to develop social democracy in Ukraine.

"Ukraine is Europe, Ukrainians are already Europeans, and YOU will be one of those who will lead the country to EU membership! Ukraine needs its young generation to take the lead in rebuilding the future. Looking at you, I see that the youth of Ukraine are ready for the European future of their country," said Iratxe Garcia Perez!

At one of the inclusions, the participants immersed themselves in the internal electoral processes of the EU and individual member states, in particular, Slovakia, Poland, and the Netherlands, together with Speakers Andriy Korniychuk, Dmytro Tuzhansky, Sofia Galaida, and Jarne van der Pol.

Other speakers of the course should be mentioned. Iryna Tyshko - leader of the "Women's Political Action" public alliance, feminist, supporter of gender quotas, spoke about why women's participation in politics is about justice, emphasized the role of women's solidarity in political leadership, and explained why gender equality destroys political corruption.

Dimitri Tskitishvili, a representative of the progressive Forum of Georgia, spoke about progressive European politicians.

Johannes Schraps, member of the SPD-Fraktion im Bundestag, talked about EU enlargement, shared his impressions of his last trip to Ukraine, and also shared information about assistance to Ukraine.

Ivan Nagornyak, Deputy Director of the Government Office for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, noted the peculiarities of Ukraine's accession to the EU, the prospects for opening negotiations on full membership, and who is responsible for what in Ukraine

Iliya Kusa, an experienced specialist, political observer, shared his analysis of the interaction of the European Union with other global players and regions, such as China, India, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa.

Mykola Kapitonenko, the author of the manual "Theory of International Relations", emphasized the key challenges that the EU has to overcome in the context of the Russian war.

During the opening of the training in Kyiv, participants were greeted by Katarina Barley, who is the main candidate of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in the elections to the European Parliament.

The workshop was also visited by a delegation of Young European Socialists, who visited Ukraine for the first time at the invitation of the Board of Directors of the Platform, consisting of general secretary Sofie Amalie Stage, president Enric López Jurado, vice-presidents Rachid Khenissi and Aleksandra Iwanowska. They discussed the current situation in Ukraine, the activity of Ukrainian youth and planned future cooperation

We would like to thank our partners the NGO "SD Platform" and the course participants for the productive cooperation!