Civic Activity of Ukrainians in Poland and Germany

Abstract

Th e overarching goal of the research project carried out by Th e Institute of Public Aff airs (IPA, Warsaw, Poland) and the Institute for European Politics (IeP, Berlin, Germany) in 2015 was to present the various forms of engagement of Ukrainian citizens in Poland and Germany in the post Euromaidan era. Self-organization, co-operation and motivation to act by representatives of the Ukrainian community living abroad were analysed based on 88 semi-structured expert interviews. Since Euromaidan, active Ukrainians began to focus not only on initiatives targeted at their own members, but also began to represent and actively promote Ukraine in relation to the host communities in Poland and Germany. Th eir activities contributed to the popularization of topics related to their homeland in the public discourse of the host countries. Ukrainian activists abroad have contributed considerably to humanitarian aid and day-to-day assistance to people who fell victim to the war in Ukraine. In the majority of cases, the activists respect European values and try to promote them back home, thereby contributing to the development of civil society in their country. Th e Polish and German authorities should be interested in supporting their initiatives not least because of such pro-democratic attitudes among the members of Ukrainian communities abroad. Moreover, support for the civic activity of migrants helps to develop their integration potential, which can have a positive impact on the development of civil society in the host country.