In the current political landscape, signs are emerging indicating that Europe is waking up, the cooperation between Ukraine and Germany being one example.
The process of Ukraine’s European integration and close cooperation with national governments and European institutions is one of Ukraine’s top priorities. Ukraine’s returning back to the European community, determined historically by the contribution made by Kyivan Rus’ and the Cossack State to the formation of our identity is a natural process, while being multifaceted at the same time.
Ukraine’s acquisition of full membership in the European Union is going to change not only us, but also the European Union itself, since integration is a two-way street. Misunderstandings and feelings of mutual fatigue are possible on this path, requiring patience and trust to go through. Political decisions and social practices of many diverse stakeholders in the process may, over time, take on quite a strange character.
We may not understand our partners, especially now as they are persistently seeking to do business with the Russian aggressor, even realizing its intention to destroy the foundations of European values. Our partners may not understand us, wondering if freedom is worth so many lives where there is a way out – just to surrender in anticipation of Putin’s death.
However, we are still one family and, whatever schizophrenic Russian leaders may write in their pseudo-historical articles, our Ukrainian unity with Europe is enshrined in the fundamental documents.
As pointed out in the “Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union”, Ukraine is part of the European community, carrying within itself the European spirit, which somewhere manifests itself even stronger than in individual European states. Article 1 of the Charter enshrines that “Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected”, the human right to life being only enshrined in Article 2. Apparently enough, these are not just serial numbers of articles contained in one of Europe’s most important documents. This is a reflection of the fact that Ukraine, by defending its dignity, culture and subjectivity (although it never wanted this) sacrifices the lives of its daughters and sons.
This Ukrainian posture is perhaps hard to be understood by those political leaders of individual European states who are broadcasting Putin’s narratives, seeking to appease him in every way possible. This, however, does not mean to say we should stop convincing them. It is necessary to work on identifying the right style and form of communication with them.
That is why the cultural dimension — along with the common values shared by Ukraine and Germany, a common vision of issues pertaining to the preservation of the European cultural heritage — that can become precisely the kind of language that effectively conveys and explains who Ukrainians are and why they do what they do.
Recently, after a visit to Berlin, which was focused on soliciting international support to safeguard Ukrainian culture in times of war, I became even more aware of the need to improve and refine our common language.
Photo Credit: Tanja Marotzke/ BKM
In the German capital, meetings were held with Claudia Roth, the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media of the Federal Republic of Germany, German State Culture Minister, as well as business representatives, and there was unveiled an exhibition of masterpieces from the Odesa Museum of Eastern and Western Art, themed “From Odesa to Berlin. European Painting of the 16th through 19th Centuries”, showcasing works by European artists of the 17th–19th centuries.
Photo credit: David von Becker
This exhibition, mounted under the auspices of the Federal President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, with support from the State Secretary for Culture and Media, has become a hallmark of German-Ukrainian friendship, especially in the context of the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine.
Photo credit: David von Becker
The art collection part of the exhibition was evacuated from Odesa to rescue it from Russian attacks. President Steinmeier emphasized that this war is an attack not just on Ukraine’s territory, but also on its cultural memory and identity. He specifically mentioned the heroic efforts of Ukrainians to preserve their heritage even under fire.
Photo credit: David von Becker
Claudia Roth, for her part, emphasized the importance of supporting Ukrainian culture as an integral part to the common European heritage. She highlighted the significance of the inaugural International Conference on Culture in Ukraine, themed “Cooperation for Sustainability”, and also invited us to join key cultural events in Germany, particularly the Berlinale International Film Festival and book fairs.
Photo credit: David von Becker
Fr. Roth suggested further displaying the works from the exhibition in other cities, such as Heidelberg, on which we will work together, along with integrating cultural issues into the agendas of major international platforms, such as the Ukraine Recovery Conference, set for [July 10-11] 2025 in Rome.
I am grateful to Germany for investing around 30 million euros in Ukraine’ cultural sector since 2022, particularly in translating literature, participating in international exhibitions and countering Russian propaganda. However, there is still a lot of work to be done, particularly on issues pertaining to the decolonization of Ukrainian culture (including the decolonization of German thinking about Ukraine and Russia) and precluding Russia exploiting falsified history, especially in the context of the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War II and the Ukrainian contribution to this victory.
On January 23, 2025, when we were working with our colleagues in Berlin, the European Parliament overwhelmingly endorsed a very bold (almost Ukrainian-style) resolution condemning the falsification of history and the use of disinformation to legitimize unprovoked full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine. The Ukrainian historian Serhiy Hromenko kindly provided a translation of this resolution into Ukrainian, adding his comments. The staff of the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications unofficially assisted in drafting this resolution.
The key provisions of this document include support for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine statement of May 2, 2023 on the ideology of “racism”. Considering this term and its meaning, the European Parliament condemned the nationalist imperialist ideology, policies and practices of the current Russian regime, and also emphasized the incompatibility of this ideology, policy, and practices with international law and European values.
As People’s Deputy Yevheniya Kravchuk noted in her Facebook post, the document adopted by the European Parliament straightforwardly rejects the historical claims made by the Russian regime, aimed at undermining the Ukrainian history and national identity, in particular, for the sake of justifying the ongoing aggression.
Mrs. Kravchuk emphasized that the essence of the Russian aggression lies in the denial of Ukraine’s national identity, about which I wrote in detail in one of my previous articles.
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On top of that, the MEPs condemned the Russian Federation for the destruction of monuments commemorating the Holodomor and re-installation of Lenin’s monuments in Russia occupied Ukraine, as well as the Kremlin’s exploitation of the Orthodox religion for geopolitical purposes, weaponizing the churches and religion as a means of influence on and control of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and Serbia among other countries.
Our colleague, People’s Deputy Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, an active member and one of the initiators of the ad hoc parliamentary commission on work with peoples enslaved by Russia, expressed himself even more explicitly, saying that “the European Parliament has recognized the ‘Russian World’ as evil.”
In the current political climate, signs are emerging indicating that Europe is waking up. Indeed, it would be wrong to say that it has so far been a passive observer of the battle for dignity and independence being fought by Ukraine. But it takes quite a time for even strong words to emerge. And our sincere hope is that that strong words will be backed up by strong actions.
In this context, noteworthy is that one of the precursors of this revival was the bold and frank speech by Karl von Habsburg, the leader of the Pan-European Movement, who emphasized that imperialism is not just a trait of Putin’s nature, but it is deeply rooted in Russian society.
These and other recent events, along with the rhetoric of individual European leaders, indicate signs of an awakening in European society.
My visit to Berlin also corroborated Germany’s commitment to supporting Ukraine in the cultural domain, and therefore supporting our ability to speak a shared language.
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The unveiling of the exhibition jointly with the President of Germany came as a reminder of the enormous losses suffered by the European culture in the aftermath of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, where hundreds of thousands of artifacts in the occupied territories are facing the prospect of being destructed or sold on the black market.
Our dialogue is contributive to bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and Germany, and reminds the world of the importance of safeguarding cultural identity and counteracting Russian imperialism. We continue work toward better understanding each other and moving towards a common Europe — successful, democratic and united.
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Mykola Tochytsky, Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications
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Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine
Headline photo credit: David von Becker
* The opinions expressed by the author may not coincide with those of the editorial staff
Source: Europe’s awakening as the realization of shared responsibility for the future
