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MEDIA ADVISORY: The European Union and the Council of Europe work with Ukraine to promote diversity and equality as part of the EU accession process

KRAKOW, POLAND, 26 September 2023. The new European Union and Council of Europe joint project “Support for implementing European standards relating to anti-discrimination and rights of national minorities in Ukraine” has recently started with the aim to support Ukraine partners in better protecting vulnerable groups in society as part of the EU accession process. The project’s objectives will be presented at a press conference which is open to the media upon registration.

The press conference will take place on Tuesday, 26 September 2023, 09:45 to 10:30 CEST, at the PREMIER KRAKÓW HOTEL, ul. Opolska 14a 31-323 Kraków, Poland.

Speakers will be:

Maciej Janczak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine
TBC Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine (online)
Yevhen Kudriavets, First Deputy Minister for European Integration, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (online)
Hallvard Gorseth, Head of the Anti-Discrimination Department of the Council of Europe
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner on Human Rights
Remi Duflot, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine (online)

The event aims at gathering partners from Ukraine with the Council of Europe and the European Union to discuss the prospect of reforms in the field of combating discrimination and tackling stigmatisation in Ukraine, and to ensure the protection of the rights of national minorities. Commitment of all partners will result in concrete activities to be agreed upon in line with the recently adopted Council of Europe Action Plan on Ukraine “Resilience, Recover and Reconstruction” (2023-2026) and with the country’s EU perspective.

The press conference is open to the media. Simultaneous interpretation in English/Ukrainian will be provided. It will be livestreamed through the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Facebook page (Ukrainian and English).

The project “Support for implementing European standards relating to anti-discrimination and rights of national minorities in Ukraine” aims at supporting Ukraine in the earlier phases of EU accession negotiations, notably by following up on the relevant parts of the 2022 Opinion on Ukraine's application for membership of the European Union by aligning legislation and policy with European standards related to anti-discrimination and the protection of the rights of persons belonging to national minorities, ensuring societal awareness of diversity and equality. The project is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.

The Project will be implemented in Ukraine from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2026.

For more information and to get accredited to join the press conference, please contact: