On Tuesday, August 2, representatives of the EU led by the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ilva Johansson met with the participants of the project "The right to be happy", which is implemented with the support of the European Union in Ukraine and the International Renaissance Foundation.
Oleksandr Sushko, executive director of the International Renaissance Foundation, took part in the event.
Ms. Johansson emphasized the importance of activities carried out by "YARMIZ" and society as a whole. The European Commissioner asked the audience about current needs and how Ukrainians approach solving issues related to these needs:
"The purpose of our stay here in Ukraine is to study how the European Union can best provide assistance to ordinary Ukrainian citizens, Ukrainian society, authorities, and Ukraine as a whole, so that the citizens who remain here in Ukraine and those who were forced to leave Ukraine and go to the EU to return to as normal a life."- said Ilva Johansson.
Svitlana Boyko, deputy director of the YARMIZ Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation Center showed the YARMIZ humanitarian headquarters organized during a full-scale invasion, introduced the program of the institution and plans for the future to those present, and also thanked the European Commissioner for supporting the Center and its projects: "We express a huge thank you on behalf of the entire team and the large family of visitors to the YARMIZ Center . We thank you and, in your person, all the countries of the European Union for supporting the activities of the Center and the entire Ukrainian people in their struggle for democratic rights, freedom, independence, as well as for helping the civilian population, including children," Svitlana Boyko addressed Ms. Johansson .
Ms. Ylva Johansson was also interested in the "Just save a life" training This is a medical aid training for civilians, organized by Olena Kosheleva, a veteran and volunteer of the center.
"It was emotionally and personally interesting for me to see the training on first aid for injuries, as it was a bit of a throwback experience for me. When I was young, I also worked as a first aid instructor for Red Cross courses. Artificial blood, wounds, all these means brought me back to my youth a little", - Ms. Ilva shared her impressions of what she saw.
Olha Pletka, trainer of the "Right to be happy" project about the peculiarities of work under the "Children of Ukraine" program, designed to help children and adults affected by the war.
Psychologists and families participating in the project "The right to be happy" shared their stories with Ms. Johansson. In particular, psychologist Svitlana Pasova, who studied under the project program, told how she saved her relatives from the war by fleeing to Poland and the Czech Republic. The woman noted that the adaptation procedure was quite fast. To which Mrs. Ilva reacted positively, because she was at the beginning of the establishment of this mechanism:
"This information is very useful for me, because I was one of those in the European Union who activated this temporary protection mechanism. It has been around for over 20 years but has never been used before. The main idea of this mechanism is that it should be easy, simple and should quickly provide legal grounds for being in the territory. And I'm glad to hear that this procedure was at least easy and quick in the Czech Republic".
During the official meeting, the mother of the defender, who was in Olenivka, addressed Ms. Komisarka. She asked on behalf of all those who are waiting for their relatives from captivity not to forget the atrocities of the Russian occupiers and the terrorist act in Olenivka.
Mrs. Ylva Johansson listened carefully to everyone and thanked those present for the work done.
We hope for further cooperation in the implementation of priority directions and defense of European values in Ukraine.