From 19 to 21 May, Ihor Ostash, Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine, made a working visit to Prague. During the visit, Ihor Ostash held meetings with representatives of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, including Dana Kovaržiková, Director of the Diplomatic Academy, Petr Kružek, Director of the Department for Eastern European Countries at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs; David Stulik, Special Representative of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine; Kamila Lidermannová, a representative of the Department for Eastern European Countries; as well as other representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diplomatic Academy of the Czech Republic.
The main outcome of the visit was the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Hennadii Udovenko Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
A separate item on the agenda was a meeting between the Academy’s Director and participants in the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Diplomatic Training Programme. During the meeting, Ihor Ostash presented the activities of the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine, its structure and practical aspects of its operation, spoke about the system for selecting and training future Ukrainian diplomats, and outlined the current challenges facing diplomatic education in the context of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
As part of the cultural and public programme for the visit, Ihor Ostash, together with Vasyl Zvarych, Ukraine’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Czech Republic, laid flowers at the monument to Taras Shevchenko in Prague to mark Vyshyvanka Day. The diplomats also attended the ‘Vyshyvanka Day’ festival, organised by a Prague-based company with the support of the Embassy and featuring Ukrainian entrepreneurs and artists in the Czech Republic.
The Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine expresses its sincere gratitude to the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Czech Republic, Vasyl Zvarych, and the entire staff of the Embassy for their assistance in establishing contacts with the Czech side and for the excellent organisation of the visit.