The Lviv Business School of UCU co-organized in Bernardine College in Paris the international conference “Politics, Ethics, and Theology: Challenges for Ukraine and Europe.” What are European values? Do they actually work? How can Europe help Ukraine confront Russia? These and other questions were discussed at panel discussions with participants from France, United States, Ukraine, Germany, and Poland.
“All us Europeans have to finally realize that what’s going on in Ukraine is a war, and it has global implications, because all possible rules of international law have been violated. This is a very special war – psychological, full of propaganda, and the effects of this propaganda will remain for a long time with the Europeans,” said Czeslaw Porebski, a professor at the Jagiellonian University in Poland.
Professor Peter McCormick believes that now is not the time to worry about European or Eurasian values: “Under threat are universal values,” believes the permanent member of the International Institute of Philosophy, Paris. “Are there European values for which the Europeans are ready to not only go serve in the army, but also to sacrifice their lives? In fact, Russia exploits the absence of such values.”
Experts of the international conference also offered specific solutions to address the situation in Ukraine. The conclusions that the participants of the panel “Maidan: Protecting Dignity and Liberty” came up with were met with applause.
How can Europe help Ukraine?
– Address the humanitarian crisis in the East, which is in a very devastated state
– Understand the high price Ukraine paid for European values, and begin to live these same values
– Start to actively fulfill the points of Ukraine’s association with the EU; to begin with, simplify visa requirements
“In this time of great change, Ukraine has the opportunity to create a new mental model of rule. This could be the best present Ukraine can give Europe,” Alla Georgiadi and John Conbere (University of St. Thomas, USA) said in their presentation.
“It is important that the conference took place at the intersection of different fields,” says LvBS Dean Sophia Opatska, who was co-presenter at the panel discussion “Political Decisions, Business Interests, and the Future of Global Organizations.” “It is at the intersection of business, philosophical, and humanitarian spaces that we can find new and effective solutions for our country.”
Conference organizers:
International Institute of Ethics and Contemporary Issues at UCU
Research Center of the Bernardine College, France
Lviv Business School of UCU
together with
Association of Ukrainian Students in France
Association of Ukrainians in France Frames (ACUF)
European Forum
Thomas More Institute
