Oleh Kozerod, “Formation of an expert environment in Europe on the issues of Ukraine is just beginning”

Currently, there is not a single Ukrainian businessman or politician who does not think about how to raise interest abroad. Oleh Kozerod, Vice-President of the Centre for European Democracy Studies (Brussels) and adviser to the deputies of the European Parliament, political scientist, and co-founder of the company Iris Consulting Group (Poland) talks about the details of this challenging case.

How do you assess the changes in the views of the world expert and media community regarding Ukraine?

Ukraine has come a long way from a post-Soviet country that has not changed for many years and where nothing happens to a country adored by journalists and residents of Western countries, which is talked about a lot and has become the object of significant international political discussions. And what is phenomenal is that it happened primarily thanks to the Ukrainian army, the military, whose problems few people in the Ukrainian government noticed at all for many years. One can only imagine what kind of success Ukraine will achieve after the war if equally powerful (not particularly beneficial to anyone during the long years of independence) forces, such as Ukrainian scientists or artists, enter the arena.

Generally, what the West’s expert environment regarding Ukraine is like?

I should note that the formation of an expert environment in Europe on the issues of Ukraine is just beginning. Almost no departments or faculties deal only with Ukrainian studies in the world’s leading universities; there are many specialists in Russian studies, and so far, the situation has not changed in the academic world in this regard. Western diplomats, ambassadors, EU officials, and advisers deal with Ukraine, but after 3-5 years they are transferred to another country of residence or change jobs, and their expertise ends. Journalists of some publications who have written about Ukraine for a certain time are also temporary players in this expert field; very few specialize in Ukrainian topic separately. Simultaneously, Europe has accumulated quite a large amount of knowledge about Ukraine, and the strength of the Western expert environment is access to any information about Ukraine. Interested Western experts can order any information through embassies or companies engaged in financial and economic intelligence.

Ukrainian people in business are increasingly entering the European market and other countries with their goods. How to make it so that they best fit into the European business realities and become part of the European business community?

I said this long before the beginning of the war – carry your Ukrainian flag proudly, and do not be afraid to talk about the Ukrainian origin of your business. Understanding business realities in the West is essential – if a person is proud of their product and roots, they will be respected. During the last decades, many Ukrainian business people pretended to be local business people in Europe, buying factories based on their business profile in France and Spain, hiring local management, etc. But when the local mass media started writing about them, they always represented them as “Ukrainian businessmen, etc.” However, this is fine, and it is better to use Ukrainian origin to promote the brand and improve the image of yourself and the country. By the way, it is a problem for the entire Ukrainian state; the West sometimes asks what standards and examples of democracy Ukraine can give the EU if it joins United Europe. Unfortunately, this has not yet become an object of discussion among Ukrainian politicians, but there are articles in such publications as the Brussels Times which ask the direct question – what is the purpose of accepting a country whose GDP is several times smaller than that of Bulgaria, the poorest EU country today?

It shall be understood that the image of Ukraine is constantly being formed, including by the behavior of the country’s citizens in Europe, their law-abidingness, participation in charitable or other actions in the West, etc.