On February 22, 2024, Yevhen Magda, political scientist, Director of the Institute of World Policy, PhD in Political Science, Associate Professor of the National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute", gave a public lecture on "The Russian-Ukrainian War and Ukraine's European Integration". The event was held within the framework of the European Studies for Technical Specialties at Lviv Polytechnic National University (EUSTS) project with the support of the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Program.
Project coordinator, Doctor of Political Science, Professor, Director of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences Yaryna Turchyn introduced the speaker to a large student and faculty audience of more than a hundred participants.
Yevhen Magda began the lecture with a discussion of key issues, such as:
- When did the war begin - in 2014 or 2022?
- Why did Russia start the war?
- Could Ukrainians have avoided this war?
The speaker also highlighted the peculiarities of the war, emphasizing that it is, in fact, a war for Ukraine's independence.
In addition, the lecturer focused on the prospects of Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU, milestones of European integration, and the factor of Moldova, which is trying to create its own success story of European integration. Eugene Magda paid special attention to the analysis of difficulties on the path of Ukraine's integration into the EU, among which he highlighted
- the continuation of the Russian-Ukrainian war;
- the unwillingness of the European establishment to expand;
- the critical state of the Ukrainian economy, because as a result of the war, Ukraine?
The speaker also highlighted the peculiarities of the war, emphasizing that it is, in fact, a war for Ukraine's independence.
In addition, the lecturer focused on the prospects of Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU, milestones of European integration, and the factor of Moldova, which is trying to create its own success story of European integration. Eugene Magda paid special attention to the analysis of difficulties on the path of Ukraine's integration into the EU, among which he highlighted:
- the continuation of the Russian-Ukrainian war;
- the unwillingness of the European establishment to expand;
- the critical state of the Ukrainian economy, because as a result of the war, Ukraine has become the poorest country in Europe;
- high public expectations of European integration;
- deterioration of relations with the Visegrad countries.
At the end of the lecture, Eugene Magda presented a "formula for accelerating" Ukraine's integration into the EU with its integral components, in particular:
- European integration should become a national idea for Ukrainian citizens;
- intensification of the information campaign on the benefits of EU membership;
- identify problematic areas of European integration in order to correct them;
- introduce the course "Fundamentals of the EU" in secondary schools;
- to adopt roadmaps for European integration in key sectors of the economy.
During the discussion part of the event, the students were interested in the issues of providing security guarantees to Ukraine, returning Ukrainian refugees from abroad, resolving the Transnistrian conflict, reintegrating the occupied territories, and others.
We express our gratitude to everyone who joined our event and invite you to the next equally interesting events within our project.
More information about the EUSTS project can be found on its website as part of the Lviv Polytechnic Portal.
