We are from Ukraine!

“We are from Ukraine,” the lady MC solemnly said, opening a concert to mark the 20th anniversary of Ukraine, which was held the other day at Bern’s Yehudi Menuhin concert hall. This year the Swiss received an opportunity to get acquainted with one more region of Ukraine – Vinnytsia oblast. On the initiative of Ihor Dir, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Switzerland, our country’s Independence Day has been celebrated for a third year in a row not only in the form of a formal ambassadorial reception but also as presentation of a Ukrainian oblast. This time the celebration organizers – the Vinnytsia Oblast Council and the Embassy of Ukraine in Switzerland – have done a wonderful job for, above all, the glory of Ukraine. Audiences warmly welcomed Vinnytsia oblast’s amateur and professional stage performers. The fiery dances of the Vinnytsia Technological College’s Rovesnyk Ensemble, the plastic and agile movements of dancers from the Hratsia Ballroom Dancing Ensemble, the beautiful and sincere voices of the Ukrainian vocalists – Meritorious Artists of Ukraine Iryna Shvets, Vasyl Korol and Stanislav Horodynsky, the singer Valentyna Solovei, and the vocal quartet Galant of Vinnytsia National Agrarian University, – all these Ukrainian talents conquered the hearts of the spectators. It is little wonder that the talented Vinnytsia amateurs and professionals won thunderous applause from the audiences – which included not only the Ukrainian diaspora but also almost the entire diplomatic corps accredited in Bern, representatives of the federal and municipal authorities, the city mayor, Swiss entrepreneurs, and art patrons – for a superb opportunity to know more about Ukraine and its culture. The next day the concert We Are from Ukraine was shown in the open on one of the Swiss capital’s main squares. Hundreds of passers-by, Bern residents as well as tourists, could see, perhaps for the first time, a concert of Ukrainian artists. Lorenzo von Wartensee, Chief of Protocol at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, could not hide his rapture: “A wonderful, fantastic concert! A nice gift from the Ukrainian Embassy to all the diplomats accredited in Bern. We can know more about your country via folklore and art. The enthusiasm of your artists deserves a rapturous welcome.”

The Vinnytsia oblast delegation is very representative and comprises about a hundred oblast- and district-level functionaries, more than 60 performers, and 45 journalists. The aim of the visit is not only to show an artistic Ukraine but also to get acquainted with Switzerland, the national and cantonal leaders, and to launch partnership. All the Vinnytsia artists danced the hopak in Bern, the delegation’s official part visited the Swiss parliament, where it met the Switzerland-Ukraine parliamentary group of friendship. Then the Vinnytsia guests left for the Canton of Fribourg to meet this canton’s minister for the economy and agriculture. They also visited Switzerland’s largest dairy enterprise owned by CREMO. “Agriculture is a top priority in Ukraine’s development,” Ihor Dir explains, “and Vinnytsia oblast is famous for both black earth and farm produce treatment businesses. So visiting and seeing the industrial facilities in the Canton of Fribourg will promote economic cooperation between the two countries.”

“We are guided by Ukraine’s aspiration to be a full-fledged European Union member,” says Serhii Tatusiak, the delegation leader and Chairman of the Vinnytsia Oblast Council, “and our visit is part of the consistent work that we have been doing for ten years.” Tatusiak is sure that every region can pursue a European integration policy on its own. An illustrative example of this is cooperation with Polish voivodeships. Being a member of the Ukraine-Poland-Germany international civic organization, Vinnytsia oblast can take pride in having signed more than 200 cooperation agreements between Vinnytsia region administrative and territorial units and 10 Polish voivodeships and established partnership in the economic and cultural spheres. Cooperation with Switzerland is also on the rise: Vinnytsia has received, free of charge, 103 tram cars from Zurich to upgrade its tram fleet. Their transportation and training the local staff cost the Federation 2.35 million Swiss francs.

“As a federal state, Switzerland has no centralized bodies of power. Administration has been delegated to the cantons. This complies with the European Charter of Local Self-Government, although Switzerland is not an EU member,” Tatusiak says, “and we in Ukraine should do our utmost to decentralize governance and hand over powers to oblast, district, and territorial communities. For us, Europe means social guarantees, public wellbeing, the freedom of speech, free elections, and democracy. It is important for me that the Europeans should feel our desire to become full-fledged EU members and that our people should be aware of the united Europe’s values.”

Among those who fully share the oblast council chairman’s ideas is MP Maryna Stavniichuk for whom the vi-sit of the Vinnytsia delegation to France, Switzerland, and Belgium is an opportunity “to open Europe to our people.” To move “towards European standards, as far as local selfgovernment is concerned, we must show the people the direction of movement,” the president’s adviser believes.

We cannot but agree with Ms. Stavniichuk. For many members of the Vinnytsia de-legation have never been outside Ukraine. No wonder many things astonished them, and they seem to have discovered a different world. I personally saw artists, journalists, and provincial newspaper editors approach their oblast council chairman and sincerely thank him for this wonderful journey and the opportunity to visit the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, the UN European offices in Geneva, and the Swiss parliament. Frankly speaking, not so many rank-and-file and even “ranked” Ukrainians can boast ever having such an eventful program.

Wherever Swiss journalists cover an important event, they always ask: “But who funds it?” It costs a pretty penny to organize and carry out a visit to European countries for more than 200 persons, including boarding and lodging. “To take such a large delegation to Switzerland is the initiative of Mr. Tatu-siak,” says Natalia Hetse, chair of the standing budgetary commission, answering my immodest, albeit legitimate, question. “And funding means our own money and assistance from our businessmen friends.” Tatusiak himself thinks that “what we have done is ‘the beans,’ for we are wasting so much money anyway. This trip was done at the cost of those people, businessmen, my colleagues and friends, who want to see Ukraine a democratic, rule-of-law, and sovereign state.”

Touching upon my impressions of Vinnytsia concerts in Switzerland again, I will confess that I was full of pride for our talented artists, when every performance of them drew thunderous applause. “By way of culture, we can bring so much positive into the field of international relations and the problem of the attitude to us, Ukrainains,” Ihor Dir assures me. “We thus show that we are capable of not only doing many things but also doing them in a ta-lented way.” A foreign diplomat said, not without reason, about his impressions after the concert: “Way to go, Ukrainians! It was great!”