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DEPromote Ukraine, with its numerous projects, is one of the important tools in the network of Ukrainian agents of influence in the West
Last week, when Ukraine was granted EU candidate status, many MEPs held the Brussels Ukraїna Review magazine in their hands. While delivering a speech at the Ukrainian Hub in the European Parliament, its President, Roberta Metsola, spoke against the background of the banner of Promote Ukraine – the NGO, one of whose projects is the mentioned magazine. Promote Ukraine with its numerous projects (such as Brussels Ukraїna Review) is one of the important tools in the network of Ukrainian agents of influence in the West, Gazeta.ua online media outlet writes citing the Ukrayinski novyny outlet. The term “Ukrainian agents of influence” was used in a recent analysis entitled “Zelensky and his ‘house of cards’ – Who and how is pushing Russia into the abyss of sanctions,” published on Liga.net. This article analyses “how diplomats, politicians, business people, economists, lobbyists, and celebrities who put pressure on the international community to pursue one goal: to win the war with Russia and overthrow the regime of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.” However, in the case of Ukraine, lobbyists are a rather conditional concept, because Ukraine is actively assisted by an extensive network of influential people who do not have official status. Promote Ukraine is precisely one of those many pro-Ukrainian organisations in the West that do not have any official representative status but without which it would be impossible to imagine the Ukrainian resistance. “Promote Ukraine is a non-commercial platform for the exchange of experience between experts and civil society representatives of Ukraine and the EU. We are a non-governmental organisation, independent from any political parties or state, registered in Belgium. We have a powerful team of professionals and volunteers who, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, have been striving to strengthen the voice of Ukrainian civil society in Europe,” says Marta Barandiy, the founder of Promote Ukraine.
In 2019, Promote Ukraine launched its printed periodical, the Brussels Ukraїna Review magazine, which is published in Ukrainian, English, and several other European languages. This magazine was before the eyes of MEPs at their workplaces when they voted for the common future of the European Union and Ukraine. “What is the Ukrainian strategy? What will be the integration of Ukraine into the EU? What are the prospects for new interstate unions in the modern world? What is the new European future through deputinisation? Why is LUKOIL in Belgium a sponsor of terrorism and a cover for Russian special services? Why can’t culture be out of politics in Europe? How is Putin provoking hunger riots in Africa and creating new foci of military tension in the world through war in Ukraine? How is the integration of Ukrainian refugees in the EU taking place on the example of Belgium?” The latest issue of the Brussels Ukraїna Review contains the answers to these questions provided by experts. The magazine had familiarised the MEPs with this “road map” before they made one of the most important decisions for modern Europe. Brussels Ukraїna Review is focused on leading European and Ukrainian politicians, opinion leaders, and public figures. Having a joint editorial office in Brussels and Kyiv, an extensive network of partners (experts, journalists, officials, politicians, representatives of non-governmental organisations and international institutions) in the EU and Ukraine, Brussels Ukraїna Review consolidates and presents Ukrainian expertise in Europe and European expertise in Ukraine. “Usually, expertise stays behind the closed doors of conferences, meetings, and various events. It provides an opportunity for dialogue only to chosen participants, while a lot of specialists, who cherish their experience and wait, remain behind the scenes of official representations and international organisations. We provide specialists with this first-hand expertise, consolidate it and introduce it to a target group of people who make key decisions in European and Ukrainian politics,” says Marta Barandiy.
On the sidelines of European state institutions, Brussels Ukraїna Review has already received the status of an outlet whose forecasts are worth trusting. The worst forecast made by the magazine’s experts in December 2021 came true on 24 February 2022. “Putin’s ‘winter military exercises’ escalated into a full-scale invasion. The entire system of international security, which the world countries had been building for decades to prevent the third world war, was crossed out in an instant,” emphasises Marta Barandiy. “In fact, the third world war is already underway. Its transition into the hot stage at the world level is hindered only by Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression at the cost of tens (or maybe even hundreds) of thousands of lives, at the cost of the unbreakable spirit of the Ukrainian army, volunteers, and civil society.”
If Vladimir Putin’s adventure in Ukraine had been successful, all dictatorial regimes would have received a signal that military aggression in the modern geopolitical paradigm would never be punished. And then most of the conflicts smouldering around the world would have gone into a hot phase. But largely thanks to the incredibly hard coordinated work of Ukrainian lobbyists, media, volunteers, and activists, our country already received the status of a candidate for EU membership and continues to receive such important international financial and technical support for efficient resistance to the enemy.
Source: Сomments.ua
