On 6 November 2018 the discussion note on theme “How can the Odessa and Kherson residents see the European integration?” was launched by the analytics of the New Europe Center with the support of foreign partners: USAID и Pact in UA.
The Head of the Department of International Connections of the Mission Yevhen Samukha participated in the event, and the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Republic of Lithuania in Ukraine Yuris Poicans, Press Attaché of the European Union in Ukraine Davyd Stulyk, communicative expert “Communication in Europe in Ukraine”, agency E’COMM Zoya Kazanghy were among the speakers.
The support of the south of Ukraine as the outpost faces the Russian hybrid aggression on the way to European integration was discussed in the context of positive changes, done in social, political and economic spheres in Kherson, as a bright example for the occupied Crimea, which have experienced so-called “Russian peace” and remained “neutral” despite the hidden Russian tendencies among the most of Kherson residents.
The authors of sociological studies and the experts concluded that Kherson region, adjacent to Crimea, is the most pro-European region in the south of Ukraine, where 42 per cent of residents, including IDPs support the European integration and it remains potentially attractive for the inhabitants of the occupied Crimea, for an example: the passenger flows in Kherson airport increased in 13 times during the period of 2014-2018. “It is a result of targeted and systemic activity of the Mission and everyday work of its officials”, Yevhen Samukha pointed out