Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

For years, the Utah Valley University annual diplomatic conference focused on broad topics including trade and business relations. In 2022, discussion revolved around the impacts of COVID-19 and, on Monday morning, conversation centered around Ukraine.

Throughout “Ukraine: One year later,” professors, a U.S. Department of State political chief and consuls general from Eastern Europe discussed the country’s status in the year since Russia’s invasion.

The conference opened with a keynote speech by Dr. Steven Seegel, a Slavic and Eurasian Studies professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

“We must do global engagement. The Kremlin is no match for a multicultural, civic and digitally activist Ukraine. You might think of it as a Goliath. It’s not. In appealing for solidarity against aggression, Ukrainians are the global guiding stars of the moment, even when we get tired of the war reporting,” Seegel said. “I think this will make democracy stronger.”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022 when military forces challenged Ukraine’s right to statehood by attacking their northern, southern and southeastern borders. According to the United Nations, there have been nearly 22,000 civilian deaths in Ukraine since the beginning of the war while estimates have between 40,000 and 60,000 Russians killed.

Courtesy Kennedy Evans, UVU Marketing

At UVU, Seegel joined Dmytro Kushneruk (Ukraine), Dobrosława Siemianowska (Poland), Cosmin Dumitrescu (Romania) and Juan Carlos Sánchez (Spain) — all Consuls General to the United States — along with Ryan Guirlinger, political unit chief in the Office of Eastern European Affairs at the U.S. State Department, to discuss topics such as the reconstruction of Ukraine following the war, the effectiveness of sanctions on Russia, and how the invasion of Ukraine has affected each of the represented countries.

“Poland’s response has been very unique. We have Ukrainian guests, we do not have Ukrainian refugees — 12% of Polish people actually host Ukrainians in their homes, houses, apartments and summer houses. And to give you the numbers, imagine every single homeless person in United States finding a home in your homes, and now triple that number,” Siemianowska said. “People were opening their hearts, their homes and very soon the reaction of local governments and central government followed.”

As the war raged on, Poland passed a law permitting Ukrainian citizens the right to settle, receive a social security number and access medical and social services. The country has also provided online learning through the Ukrainian school system, allowing 197,000 Ukrainian children to continue their education.

Eventually, the conversation moved from the plans made by surrounding countries to the resolve of the Ukrainian people.

“People in Ukraine who are responsible for this reconstruction try not to use the words ‘reconstruction’ or ‘rebuilding,’ they will try to use the word ‘reimagined’ or ‘redesigned.’ Because the idea is not to just rebuild what was done before, but to use this opportunity to build a new Ukraine, using new approaches and new technologies,” Kushneruk said. “And the most important thing is that we in Ukraine, we want to do this rebuilding right now, not waiting until the end of the world.”

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

In closing, Dumitrescu expressed Romania’s support for Ukraine because of the role it plays in protecting Eastern Europe as a buffer to Russia.

“We’ll provide the necessary support in order to touch those targets. At the same time, I think that consolidating the resiliency of the Western democratic board countries is of utmost importance. We need to see and to learn from these history lessons,” Dumitrescu said. “We are able to see that we cannot depend on the resources of only other countries of the world, and that we need to build our partnerships inside and outside all our audiences based on the values of freedom, liberty, democracy, dignity and respect for the world order based on rules and international law.”