Ostroh Club to Edward Lucas and all Europeans:

It is important that progressive Europeans like Edward Lucas address the issue of forming Ukraine’s new elite from among students, young researchers, and businessmen. Though Lucas is still in the minority, hopefully, thanks to the stand of people like him, Europe will understand Ukraine better and will pay more attention to its history and problems.

It should be mentioned that the process of the formation of a new Ukrainian elite is actually taking place — not as fast as one would expect and not with immediate results though: perhaps, that is why it is not very much noticed in Europe. However, there are still few people in the Ukrainian establishment who are really interested in the formation of a political elite that would be new in essence, not form. That is why one shouldn’t anticipate that conditions and rules will soon be established for young people to live differently.

The Day’s efforts to spend time and resources to have intellectual conversations in students’ lecture rooms are not accidental. In addition to being educational, they also become a kind of a test for an ability to think in a new way. Thus, The Day found invariable partners in the difficult case of nurturing a new Ukrainian elite — Ostroh Academy and the International Institute of Management (MIM-Kyiv). These are the environments that we believe are concentrating the necessary conditions for the identification of a new type of Ukrainians. These conditions include the spiritual aura, resource base, people with the required knowledge, and, most importantly, a yearning for changes.

For almost four years already the Ostroh Club for Young People’s Free Intellectual Exchange, neatly called in one of articles “a laboratory of the Ukrainian unity,” has been working under the auspices of The Day. It was referred to as a “laboratory” because not all its ideas find feedback in society right away. By means of tentative steps, socializing, and debates, young people look for approaches to solve Ukrainian problems.

Surely, an understanding of reality and the ability to find a common language did not emerge at once. We had to visit dozens of Ukraine’s regions and hold continuous meetings in order to find a seemingly simple decision, finally worded at the round table of Ostroh Club in Chernivtsi at the end of 2009: “We want to be different!” “Different” in the Ostroh Club’s understanding means knowing our own country not from television, but through field trips, traveling from city to city, meeting local public organizations, strengthening horizontal relations, and supporting reasonable initiatives.

Thus, when the main ideological platform has been built, it’s time to formalize the activities of the Ostroh Club. (To the astonishment of many people, this club has been active for almost four years exceptionally owing to the initiative of young people.)

Last Friday the founders of the Ostroh Club gathered together in Kyiv in order to solve the issue of establishing an all-Ukrainian public organization called “The Ostroh Club for Young People’s Free Intellectual Exchange.” The necessity to have legal status became urgent due to several reasons: the Ostroh Club has a rather extensive network that covers nearly 20 regions of the country; ideas for the future projects require certain documents to be made and offers of cooperation obtained from other organizations. “The four years of the Ostroh Club activity were not in vain. The interest in our activity is not accidental. Without exaggeration, I want to say that few others did something reasonable, conscious, and independent. Surely, there are other public organizations, and they are also precious. But the accent on intellectual communication of young people who have new views is what makes us different,” stated Larysa Ivshyna, editor in chief of The Day and (since now) the honorary head of the Founders’ Council, during the meeting with the Ostroh Club’s founders.

Bohdan Havrylyshyn, one of the most influential Ukrainians in the world, a member of the Club of Rome, and a founder of the World Economic Forum in Davos, noticed the activity of the Ostroh Club. He personally showed interest in communicating with the participants of the Ostroh Club and discussing the prospects of its further activity. So last Friday became very important for the club’s participants also because of the meeting with a really symbolic figure in the modern history of Ukraine — Bohdan Havrylyshyn.

Lucas says that in Europe “Ukraine fatigue” has been increasing. To be frank, Ukrainians are themselves fatigued with the Ukraine one sees without delving into the processes that are taking place deep inside the country. What we expect from Europeans who are friendly towards us is not aggravating Ukrainian complexes, but a more profound understanding of our problems and enhancing our possibilities.