On March 29, students of the Department of Political Science and International Relations had the opportunity to talk to Ben Cohenburger, an American volunteer and lawyer who, in particular, was involved in the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.
Ben Cohenburger is a lawyer from the USA who was a member of the Democratic team during the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. Since 2022, he has been providing legal assistance to Ukrainian refugees. He is cooperating with the Caritas foundation in this matter. He also became the first international legal adviser to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
With the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, Ben decided to help Ukrainian forced migrants in Hungary, as there were problems with understanding the laws and the language barrier. Later, he went by bus to Lviv and started cooperation with the Caritas foundation. In Kyiv, he met the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights and became his first international legal advisor. In Ukraine, he has visited several cities and seen the consequences of the Russian attacks in Kharkiv.
Ukrainians should listen to the mood in American society and work with it. According to Mykola Buchyn, no matter how skeptical individual politicians in the US are about helping Ukraine, they will not be able to act differently if their voters want it. Such events as the meeting with American lawyer and volunteer Ben Cohenburger improve communication between the states, help to find consensus and form a common view of events.
