Influential Ukrainian diplomats become guests of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine

An important event, the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Ukrainian Foreign Policy Association (UFPA), took place on July 19 at the NUJU office. NUJU President Sergiy Tomilenko and UFPA President Volodymyr Khandohii signed the document.

The meeting brought together leading Ukrainian diplomats and experts in the field of international relations, management and leading experts of the NUJU, who discussed the coverage of Ukraine’s foreign policy and interaction between journalists and diplomats.

“This meeting and the memorandum we are signing will give us an additional boost and allow us to combine our intellectual resources to inform the public about Ukraine’s foreign policy,” Volodymyr Khandohii said.

Sergiy Tomilenko emphasized the importance of expert support in covering international events:

“We understand the weight of a diplomatic word. Today, we receive a wide base of contacts of experienced and competent experts whom we can recommend to Ukrainian and foreign journalists for commenting on events around the world.

The participants in the meeting discussed a number of topical issues. In particular, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ihor Lytvyn, a former Ambassador of Ukraine to Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Sultanate of Brunei, China, the DPRK, Mongolia/ Board Chairperson of the Association of Ukrainian-Chinese Cooperation, emphasized the need to strengthen the presence of Ukrainian journalists abroad.

“We have very few foreign correspondents. For example, there is only one representative office of Ukrinform in China. At the same time, the Chinese mass media have several powerful offices here,” he noted.

Member of the NUJU/Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Borys Humeniuk, doctor of historical sciences, professor, head of the department of the Ukrainian State University named after Mykhailo Drahomanov, ex-Ambassador of Ukraine in the Republic of Cyprus, ex-rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, noted the importance of professional expertise in covering international events.

“The journalism school of Ukraine, unfortunately, does not always take into account the mentality of those countries that our media people write about. The same information can be perceived differently in the countries of the Muslim world and Europe,” Borys Humeniuk noted.

First Secretary of the NUJU, Lina Kushch, emphasized the Union‘s position on the need to restore Ukrainian media as part of the country’s reconstruction process.

“Today, it is important not only to restore the destroyed infrastructure. It is necessary to restore the Ukrainian media, and it is important to include this aspect in all programs for the restoration of Ukraine,” Lina Kushch said.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary/Executive Director of the UFPA Valerii Tsybukh, former Ambassador of Ukraine to Greece and Albania, noted the importance of expanding cooperation between diplomats and journalists.

“A diplomat and a journalist have a lot in common,” he said. “What you are doing today, highlighting many important issues for our country, once again convinces us that we are on the right path.”

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary/President of the Association of Taxpayers of Ukraine/Deputy Chairman for European Integration of the Agency for Search and Asset Management Grigol Katamadze noted that modern non-standard life requires non-standard solutions, so cooperation between the UFPA and the NUJU must be continued. He has promised to continue engaging with the NUJU leadership and already has a number of issues to discuss.

As a result of the meeting, several specific initiatives were adopted:

• formation of a list of leading UFPA experts for mass media newsrooms, specifying their specializations.
• conducting a round table on international journalism with the participation of diplomats and international journalists.
• organization of book presentations by Ukrainian diplomats at the NUJU

Sergiy Tomilenko also presented two important NUJU projects to the participants in the meeting: the international photo exhibition of journalists in the combat zone, which was presented in Paris, Brussels, and Vilnius, and the photo project Flashes of War – the best photos of the first year on the topic of the full-scale invasion, which is curated by the famous photojournalist Efrem Lukatsky.

NUJU‘s initiative to revive front-line newspapers was noted separately.

“We attracted international donors and partners and revived 32 front-line newspapers. Often, this is the only means of informing in these territories, where there is neither electricity nor the Internet,” said Sergiy Tomilenko.

Volodymyr Khandohii summarized the meeting as follows:

“Our joint work for now should be focused on the issues of war coverage and the full-scale invasion. The synergy of our efforts will lead to good results.”

The participants in the meeting noted that the signing of the memorandum between the NUJU and the UFPA is an important step in strengthening cooperation between journalists and diplomats. This will improve the quality of coverage of international events in the Ukrainian media and will contribute to a better understanding of Ukraine’s foreign policy both inside the country and abroad.

The meeting was attended by NUJU President Sergiy Tomilenko, NUJU First Secretary Lina Kushch, influential Ukrainian diplomats, Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Volodymyr Khandohii (online), Borys Humeniuk, Anatolii Dron, Grigol Katamadze, Volodymyr Koval, Volodymyr Lakomov, Ihor Lytvyn, Yurii Malko, Valerii Tsybukh, international journalists Maryna Hrinchenko and Valerii Yurchenko.

NUJU Information Service