Eurointegration is the key to Ukraine’s development, — Olha Stefanishyna

Eurointegration is the key to Ukraine’s development within the country and its interaction with the larger global community. Therefore, Ukrainians must understand their belonging to the European family and perceive themselves as a full-fledged part of the common European space. 

Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, emphasized this during the “Social Contract for Ukraine: Vision of the Future” Dialogue organized by Aspen Institute Kyiv on September 25.

Here are Ms. Olha key points:

1. The world is currently Ukraine-centric. However, we must learn to be part of a larger community after our victory. This is what Eurointegration is all about.
2. European countries, like any democracies in the world, are multinational, tolerant, and inclusive. Therefore, Ukrainians should not feel like “outsiders.”
3. The level of cooperation between Ukraine and EU countries has reached a point where all processes within the European Union affect Ukraine and vice versa.
4. We have demonstrated to the world our ability to keep state institutions functioning even during war. After February 24, we had to explain to our partners how state institutions, registries, and local and central governments continued operating during the Ukraine conflict.
5. Ukrainian civil society and the expert community have become part of the state-building process.
6. Ukraine has the most prominent “Eurointegration army,” with thousands of people getting involved at all levels to support the integration process.

The Program Coordinator for the Community, Andriy Kulakov, moderated the discussion.

Aspen Institute Kyiv has been engaging leaders in dialogs dedicated to the social contract for Ukraine for over a year and encourages reflection on this topic. Aligning the vision of the future and discussing key themes around which society will unite is an essential component of our collective struggle for independence and the right to choose our development path.

The “Social Contract for Ukraine” project is implemented with the support of NED (National Endowment for Democracy).