Civil Network OPORA is launching a series of videos “The Power of Choice. Important Talks About Ukraine.” It is a series of visionary interviews with Ukrainian intellectuals for those who would like to better comprehend the world and the uniqueness of Ukrainians in it.
You are invited to weekly conversations with the project host, Olha Aivazovska, and experts from various areas of humanities. We shall talk about the choice in a broad sense, about what we face every day and what makes us different from others.
Choice is the basis of modernity where a present-day human is not relying on what is given but rather prefers to choose among the alternatives. It builds the basis for their thinking, feeling, and action in everyday life.
After February, 24, 2022, Ukrainian people have been re-thinking the reality around them, and felt the pertinent need to understand themselves: how you choose the identity, language, freedom, place of living, profession, vector for development, etc. What is our Ukrainian choice about? How has it built and what it relies on today? How the war context transforms the concept of choice? What are the threats to that choice?
OPORA has been working with elections related themes for over 17 years now. Elections are the tool of collective choice that determines the future of the country and of every individual. We certainly know that choice is not only about a tick in the ballot paper on the voting day. It is also the fight for your values and principles. We know multiple cases proving that each choice has its consequences.
Ukrainian people are free to choose the kind of country they want to live in, and how to build their future. Unfortunately, Ukraine has always paid a high price for their choice. We had to defend it multiple times. We are doing it now in a joint nationwide effort. However, this is what makes Ukrainian people different from others, particularly from the society of the aggressor state.
The first talk from the series is already available on the Youtube channel of the Civil Network OPORA.
This a talk with the ex-Foreign Minister of Ukraine (2014–2019) and a diplomat Pavlo Klimkin. We discuss the impacts on vital decision-making in Ukraineʼs contemporary history. What led to the decision to abandon nuclear weapons? What was the role of the West in critical times in Ukraine’s journey? What shall be the Ukrainian choice after our victory?