New York, NY (UCCA) – On September 22, 2018, a once-in-a-generation, full-day conference will bring together some of the world’s most knowledgeable students of Ukrainian history, hailing from the United States, Canada and Ukraine, to examine the scope and ultimate meaning of the predecessor of the modern Ukrainian State – the Ukrainian National Republic (UNR) – and the legacy it engendered.
The event, entitled Commemorating the Ukrainian National Republic and its Legacy, will take place at the Princeton Club of New York (15 West 43rd Street), and will feature four panel discussions and three highlight presentations addressing Ukraine’s first attempt in the 20th century to establish a sovereign nation state. Nearly two dozen presenters will discuss the impact that the formation of the UNR had on Ukraine, taking a fresh look at five critical periods: the 1920s and early 1930s; late 1930s to the 1950s; the 1960s to the 1990s; and finally the era of post-EuroMaidan Ukraine.
The conference will be followed by a special evening banquet at the Princeton Club, at which the following keynote speakers – Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, Vice-Prime Minister of Ukraine for European & Euro-Atlantic Integration; Ambassador Kurt Volker, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations (awaiting re-confirmation); and General John Abizaid, Special Military Advisor to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry – will reflect upon Ukraine’s present day situation.
For over four years now, Russia’s invasion and military occupation of parts of Ukraine has resulted in over 10,000 casualties and displaced over 2 million civilians – the largest wartime displacement in Europe since WWII. This conference will provide much needed historical context for today’s near-constant combat, as Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity remain under assault from a revanchist Russia.
CONFIRMED SPEAKERS: JARS BALAN • VOLODYMYR BIRCHAK • LUBOMYR HAJDA • TARAS HUNCZAK • AMBASSADOR VALERY KUCHINSKY • SERHII KVIT • ALEXANDER MOTYL • OLENA NIKOLAYENKO • OLEKSANDR PAHIRIA • SERHII PLOKHII • MYKOLA POSIVNYCH • ANNA PROCYK • AMBASSADOR YURI SERGEYEV • YURI SHEVCHUK • FRANK SYSYN • VLADISLAV VERSTYUK • ZENON WASILIW • AMBASSADOR VOLODYMYR YELCHENKO
FORUM FEATURED SPEAKER: HANNA HOPKO, MP HEAD OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE VERKHOVNA RADA OF UKRAINE