The International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations, Lviv Polytechnic National University, held a meeting with the delegation of the Union of the Ukrainians of Romania (UUR) led by its head Mykola-Myroslav Petretskyi.
The event took place in the Assembly Hall of the main building of the University. The delegation members of the Union of the Ukrainians of Romania told the students and faculty of Polytechnic about the Ukrainian community in Romania.
The meeting began with a moment of silence in memory of those who died in the Russian-Ukrainian war. After that, Fr. Adrian Vishovan, member of UUR, blessed the event.
Liliia Zhuk, Vice-Rector for Education and Strategic Development, Lviv Polytechnic, congratulated the participants and emphasized that this meeting is a special event.
«Lviv Polytechnic is always happy to welcome representatives and activists of world Ukrainians. We know and appreciate your tireless work for the success of the All-Ukrainian case and for the development of interstate relations. For more than 30 years, the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations, Lviv Polytechnic National University, has been a reliable partner of world Ukrainians. IECDR takes care of world Ukrainians, develops and nurtures existing relationships, and generates new ones. Let’s continue to be united, let’s be together», urged Liliia Zhuk.
The main invited guest – the head of the Union of the Ukrainians of Romania, a member of the Romanian Parliament, a leader of the Ukrainian community and a well-known public and political activist Mykola-Myroslav Petretskyi. He expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to communicate with the Lviv Polytechnic youth.
«Ukrainians in Romania, after Hungarians and Roma, are the third largest community in the country that belongs to national minorities. When we talk about Ukrainians in the Romanian state, we mean autochthonous Ukrainians. Many people think that we are a diaspora. No, we are not a diaspora – we were born there. Villages, where the Ukrainian population lives compactly, have centuries-old traditions. Father Adrian, who opened the event with a prayer, serves in the largest Ukrainian village, where more than 10,000 Ukrainians live. The history of this village is more than 750 years old. We do not belong to any political party and all our representatives are representatives of the UUR, i.e. representatives of Ukrainians», emphasized Mykola-Myroslav Petretskyi.
He also noted that the Romanian state pays great attention to national minorities, stimulating them financially to help them develop their cultural assets.
