Key to Ukraine's victory lies in building a society that prioritizes human dignity, solidarity and responsibility – experts
The answer to the challenges associated with Russia's aggression, which in one form or another will continue for a long time, may be the construction of a sustainable society in Ukraine, in which human dignity, solidarity and responsibility will become the basis for decision-making.
This is stated in the analytical notes of the "Christian Democratic Expertise" presented at a round table at the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday.
The event was attended by leading Ukrainian experts on security, politics and social development, gathered at the round table "Ways to Strengthen Ukraine's Social Resilience: A Values-Based Expertise" to discuss the critically important issues of national resilience in wartime for the country.
In particular, the "Christian Democratic Expertise" covers four key areas - economy, politics, society and culture - offering a comprehensive approach to addressing national challenges through the prism of values. "Our study is not just an analysis of problems, but specific recommendations on how to build a society where human dignity, solidarity and responsibility become the basis for decision-making (…) Today's study is the result of many years of work on the question: how to build a society that will be both strong and humane, protected and free," said Yuriy Honcharenko, head of the Ukrainian Security Club and the NGO Foundation for the Promotion of Democracy, who presented the document.
Honcharenko outlined the key challenges: "In the face of unprecedented challenges facing our state, the issue of national resilience takes on new significance. How to form an effective model of social cohesion? What mechanisms will help Ukraine maintain a balance between security and freedom? It is these questions that we will seek answers to today."
Coordinator of the Initiative Group of the Civil-Military Movement, Oleksiy Ivashin, emphasized the importance of a systemic approach: "We cannot build national resilience piecemeal. We need a comprehensive strategy that will unite the efforts of the state, society, and every citizen."
Representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Andriy Yusov, outlined the key challenges for the state: "Many Ukrainians today are striving for a quick peace - this is quite natural. But the unpleasant truth is that in the coming years, and perhaps decades, the former peaceful life will no longer exist. Even if some form of truce is achieved, as long as Russia exists in its current form, it will attack again as soon as it feels it can do so. Threats from other reckless neighbors are not excluded."
Serhiy Demyanov, a representative of the Foundation for Future Research, focused on the information component: "Russia is waging not just military aggression against us, but a civilizational war, where disinformation and manipulation are the same weapons as tanks and missiles." Coordinator of the Initiative Group of the Public-Military Movement Oleksiy Ivashin highlighted the problems of the Ukrainian nation's resilience in the war, which has become an existential challenge for our society, and called not just to outline the problems, but to come up with practical models of strengthening resilience through a system of values. "Resilience is not just the ability to withstand pressure or adapt to stress. It is a characteristic of the social fabric, which includes trust between citizens and institutions, readiness for self-organization, shared responsibility, the ability to think critically and emotionally. At the heart of this is a system of values that unite people and form national identity," emphasized Oleksiy Ivashyn.
The expert also emphasized the model of defensive democracy, which involves the unconditional preservation of all democratic procedures and standards while strengthening unity between all segments of Ukrainian society - military personnel, veterans and civilians - as a guarantee of our victory and future prosperity.
Oleksiy Ivashyn, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, called comprehensive support for the Defense Forces of Ukraine, increasing public respect for the defenders of the state, the prestige of military service and the importance of fulfilling civic duties the central points of defensive democracy.
The veteran also indicated that one of the answers to the aforementioned challenges is a rotational model of military service, which can be a fair and even burden of war on the entire society in order to restore the strength of Ukrainian defenders.
Concluding the event, Honcharenko summed up the results of the discussion: "Today's conversation showed that the Ukrainian expert community understands the challenges and is ready to seek solutions. We cannot afford the luxury of waiting for better times to implement value-oriented policies. War is not a reason to postpone reforms, but an incentive to make them deeper and more systematic."
The organizers reported that the materials of the study "Christian Democratic Expertise" have been published for wide discussion, and the Conservative Platform plans to continue a series of expert discussions on the formation of value-oriented policies for Ukraine.
The broadcast of the event is available on the Interfax-Ukraine YouTube channel for anyone who was unable to attend in person but is interested in discussing ways to strengthen Ukraine's social resilience.
The analytical notes "Christian Democratic Expertise" are published on the Conservative Platform website and are available for download.
The hour-long event at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency brought together representatives of the security and defense sector, from government officials to civil society and expert circles. The organizers were the Conservative Platform (a joint project of the NGO Foundation for the Promotion of Democracy and the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Ukraine) in partnership with the Ukrainian Security Club.