On November 4, 2022, within the framework of the VII International Scientific and Practical Conference «Ukrainian Language in the World», a meeting was held with Vitalii Portnykov, a well-known Ukrainian journalist, publicist, writer, TV presenter, analyst, and laureate of the Vasyl Stus Prize (2022). The event was moderated by Oksana Trumko, Candidate of Philological Sciences, researcher at the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations, Lviv Polytechnic.
The main issues raised by the journalist during the meeting were related to the Ukrainian language and culture:
- How does language affect the formation of national identity?
- Will Ukraine be able to become a shelter for Ukrainians?
- What should be done to change the world’s perception of Ukrainian culture?
In addition, Vitalii Portnykov placed a strong emphasis on how Ukrainians are overcoming the inferiority complex, which has been planted by the Russian regime for centuries: «I believe that we need to talk not about Russian, but about Ukrainian. Because only when we shift the emphasis to the development of all Ukrainian, we will not have to think about the fate of other cultures and other languages on Ukrainian territory. Everything is harmonizing, because Ukraine as a state was created as a shelter for Ukrainians, for those who consider themselves Ukrainian not only from an ethnic point of view, but also from a political and cultural point of view. We see what European countries look like. Each of them protects its own culture and its own cultural identity».
Regarding the idea of creating the European Union, the publicist says: «The very idea of the European Union after the World War II is not that everything will be mixed and everyone will speak English, but that there will be equal rights for each nation in Europe, for each state, who will cherish their language, culture, traditions; as well as to make it possible the develop every nation in their country».
