A senior Ukrainian Australian community delegation will tell the Government of Ukraine: it’s time for reality to match rhetoric in the Ukraine-Australia relationship.
Stefan Romaniw OAM, AFUO President, and Pete Shmigel, AFUO Public Affairs Director, will meet in the next two weeks in Kyiv with representatives of the Government of Ukraine, including the Presidential administration, the Prime Minister’s administration, and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Information Policy, and Education.
Mr Romaniw, who is also Secretary General of the Ukrainian World Congress, said: “The new Government in Ukraine has the opportunity to act as a new government when it comes to working with Australia and benefitting from the relationship.
“AFUO knows from its regular discussions with the Australian Government that there is great support for Ukraine’s aspirations, but that the relationship needs to be reciprocal. The opportunity for increased military, logistical, humanitarian and commercial engagement is there for the taking, and Ukraine needs to claim it through decisive actions.
“AFUO will call on the Government of Ukraine to: resolve the question of a full-time Ambassador in Canberra; reform the restrictive visa regime that limits social, cultural and business exchange; drop counter-productive actions in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) with regard to plain packaging of tobacco by Australia, and; support a Ukraine-Australia bilateral NGO and business conference in 2015.
“Stronger relationships help secure Ukraine’s territorial integrity; stronger relationships help move Ukraine into its democratic and economically prosperous future. Stronger relationships require work,” Mr Romaniw said.
Pete Shmigel added: “The Government of Ukraine – be it in Australia or globally – can do more to defend Ukraine from the massive war of disinformation by Putin. In Australia alone, this includes $2 million worth of Russia Today broadcasts, regular editorial supplements in major newspapers, and a concerted trolling campaign on social media. This propaganda must be counteracted to show the situation – and future opportunities – in Ukraine as it factually is. As AFUO, we have a plan for better TV content from Ukraine in Australia, but this can be strengthened with Governmental cooperation.”
To further forward practical measures for increased bilateralism, the AFUO delegation will also meet with Rada representatives, such as the new Australia-Ukraine parliamentary friendship group, business leaders, and civil society leaders. They will also engage with the work of the Ukrainian World Congress’ humanitarian program, “Patriot Defence” which trains self-defence personnel in first aid. Australians have raised more than $200,000 for this initiative.
Professionally, Mr Romaniw is the Executive Director of the Federation of Community Language Schools and the former Multicultural Commissioner of Victoria; Mr Shmigel has been a senior advisor to five Ministers.
Contact: Stefan Romaniw 0419 531 255 (Australia) or 380 977 486 182 (Ukraine)
March 18, 2015
