Ukrainian-Polish Meetings

More details about the meetings here: https://kmv.pnu.edu.ua/category/ukrainsko-polski-zustrichi/

The Ukrainian-Polish meetings date back to 2008. In particular, on 28–29 November 2008 the Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University hosted a conference titled “The Union of Hadiach in the History of Polish-Ukrainian Relations, 1658–2008.” Alongside the Precarpathian National University, the co-initiator and co-organiser of the meeting was the editorial board of “Kurier Galicyjski,” the largest Polish-language periodical in Ukraine. Since 2010, the meetings have always been held in the second half of September. From 2012 onward, the conferences began to be called “Ukrainian-Polish Meetings.” The conference traditionally takes place in the Ukrainian Carpathians, in the town of Yaremche. The year 2020 was an exception: due to the epidemiological situation of the previous year, the 13th Ukrainian-Polish meeting was held in a hybrid format, with moderators and key speakers from the Ukrainian side mostly gathered in Ivano-Frankivsk, and from the Polish side in Przemyśl. Other participants took part in the conference online.

The permanent co-organisers of the Ukrainian-Polish meetings are the Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University and the editorial board of “Kurier Galicyjski.” Starting in 2015, the University of Warsaw joined the co-organisers, followed in 2017 by the I. F. Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The events were financially supported first by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, and later by the Senate of the Republic of Poland through the foundations “Pomoc Polakom na Wschodzie” and “Wolność i Demokracja” (since 2014).

The first two conferences had a clearly defined thematic focus and dealt with historical topics. Starting in 2010, participants at the meetings discussed a wide range of issues covering the historical, political, security, and humanitarian dimensions of Ukrainian-Polish dialogue. From 2013 onward, the conference also began to address the economic dimension of Ukrainian-Polish cooperation, although this topic was not featured as a separate section every year.

In March 2015 and 2016, on the initiative of the “Krzyżowa” Foundation for European Understanding, and with the participation of the Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University and the University of Warsaw, two conferences were held in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, planned as partner meetings to those taking place in Yaremche. A distinctive feature of the meetings in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship was that, alongside Ukrainians and Poles, German politicians and experts also took part, with particular emphasis placed on economic issues.

Depending on the year, the Ukrainian-Polish “Yaremche” meetings have brought together anywhere from a few dozen to more than 100 leading scholars, experts, journalists, diplomats, and politicians from both countries. In recent years, the Ukrainian-Polish meetings have become the most authoritative Ukrainian-Polish forum, addressing the most diverse components of interstate cooperation, hosting presentations of new books, showcasing and summarising joint international projects, concluding agreements, and more.