On May 19-20, 2022, the VII Ukrainian-Polish Scientific Forum «Poland and Ukraine in Modern Europe: Intercultural Dialogue - the Role of National Minorities - Challenges and Threats» was held by the Department of Political Science and International Relations, the Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Lviv Polytechnic, together with the Institute of Political Science, the University of Warmia and Mazury (Republic of Poland).
The initiators and inspirers of the Forum for the seventh year in a row are Professor Yaryna Turchyn, Director of the Institute of the Humanities and Social Sciences, and Professor Teresa Astramowicz-Leyk, the University of Warmia and Mazury, and Honorary Professor of Lviv Polytechnic National University. This year's event took place within the project EU Eastern Partnership Initiative: Opportunities for Ukraine (EaP Initiative) with the support of the EU Erasmus+ Jean Monnet (No. 619891-EPP-1-2020-UA-EPPJMO-MODUL).
Despite the difficult situation, the Forum aroused special interest among researchers, students, politicians and public activists, as more than 170 people from 59 scientific institutions in Poland and Ukraine applied to participate.
The Forum hosted a round table «From the past to the future - the 75th anniversary of Wisla Operation», which was attended by more than 80 participants, including Ukrainian and Polish researchers, deputies of the Warmian-Masurian Sejm and Lviv Regional Council, and representatives of the Polish minority in Lviv and the Ukrainian minority in Olsztyn.
In total, there were 6 thematic sections, which were dedicated to:
- the role of CEE countries in the formation and implementation of the Eastern policy of the European Union;
- genesis and development of Ukrainian-Polish relations;
- cooperation in the legal and socio-economic spheres of Ukraine and the EU;
- scientific diplomacy in strengthening Ukrainian-Polish cooperation;
- the place of cultural diplomacy in Ukrainian-Polish relations;
- NATO as a defense alliance and its role in overcoming security threats in Europe and the world.
It is important that the Forum became a platform for cooperation and exchange of experience of scientists, representatives of central and local authorities of Ukraine and Poland, NGOs, students, church representatives, and societies of national minorities of Ukraine and Poland. Participants from Ukraine expressed great gratitude to the Poles for the support of our state and our citizens during the difficult times of the war.
