Svetlana Marnichova is the chairperson of the "Human Rights Have No Borders" organization which is active in central and western districts of Ukraine; she is also the Amnesty International coordinator for Ukraine. Svetlana Marnichova lives in Lvov.

an Amnesty Report for the UN regarding the violation of human rights in Ukraine

Wolodymyr Horbowyj - Aa head of local council in Stary Sambor (Ukraine, close to Polish Border), well experienced in leading the cross-border cooperation with the Polish local governments and NGOs.

Wolodymyr Horbowyj (mp3/1,8 MB)-Ukrainian version only

The conversation with Wolodymyr Horbowyj - a summary: As the main problems of development of the cross-border cooperation leaded by local governments from the Polish-Ukrainian borderland Wolodymyr Horbowyj identified the handicaps with the border crossing and lack of financial means intended to the cooperation mentioned above. Joint activities are up to the European granting programs, which are often not very effective, because of lack of strict criteria of sharing money, which is being received rather by big administrative centres than the small borderland communities (e.g. “Neighbourhood Programme” - INTERREG III). That is the reason why cooperation between the administrative units from the both sides of the border is not permanent, hence the special programm destined only for the borderland areas is essential. The European visa regime is a strong problem as well. The corruption at the cross-border points is caused, among others, by the very complicated and not transparent regulations which should be changed and simplyfied by Brussel and Kiev. In Horbowyj’s opinion the competentional differences between the Polish and the Ukrainian local governments are not so important to be recognized as a problem. The western vector of Kiev foreign policy, in spite of the Ukrainian internal problems, must be supported by the EU, which should treat Ukraine as a serious and believeable partner.

Wolodymyr Horbowyj was interviewed by Grzegorz Demel, 27th June 2006. For these several weeks the Ukrainian political scene has changed and the parliamentary coalition mentioned in the interview does not exist anymore. Nevertheless, the compromis between Wiktor Yushchenko's and Wiktor Yanukowych's parties, which are the biggest political powers in the new coalition, gives hope, that the Maidan's vector of foreign policy is still current. What is more, the Regions Party always underlined the important role of local governments in internal and foreign policy.

prof. Norman Davis - Aa head of local council in Stary Sambor (Ukraine, close to Polish Border), well experienced in leading the cross-border cooperation with the Polish local governments and NGOs.

prof. Norman Davis (mp3/3,6 MB)

Jan Pieklo - journalist, Executive director of PAUCI Foundation.

Jan Pieklo (mp3/7,91 MB)

Constantin Sigov - professor of philosophy at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy in Kiev.

Constantin Sigov (mp3/5,67 MB)- French version only

The conversation with Constantin Sigov - a summary: Professor Sigov discusses signs of hope for dialogue between Western and Eastern Europe, the international responsibility for unsatisfactory situation of Belarus and Ukraine of which the latter experiences economical difficulties, however enjoys unrestricted freedom of speech. He considers keeping Ukraine "at a distance" by the European Union as inappropriate, because Ukraine goes through a historical turning point and should not be left alone in this process.