Students of the Faculty of International Relations Visited the Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions

May 16, 2018

Who among students at the Faculty of International Relations does not dream of becoming a diplomat? On May 15, a group of students of the Faculty of International Relations of the National University of Ostroh Academy and members of the youth section of the Learned Society for the History of Diplomacy and International Relations approached this goal, having visited the State Enterprise “The Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions” in Kyiv. In the framework of the joint project of “The Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions” and Outlook Project – Diplomatic Greetings, there was an acquaintance with various directions of practical diplomatic work, which caused great interest.

The program of the visit was intense: in its framework were held meetings with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland to Ukraine Yukho Virtanen, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine Shiheki Sumi and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to Ukraine, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Nurberdy Amanmuradov. In addition, very interesting and useful were lectures by the General Director of the State Enterprise “The Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions” Pavlo Kryvonоs, the Director General of the International Project “OUTLOOK” Dariia Kariakina, and the Head of the Advertising and Publishing Department of “The Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions” Inna Khomenska.

The meeting was opened by lectures of Dariia Kariakina, who spoke about the project “OUTLOOK” and implemented with its help cultural diplomacy activities. The lecture by Inna Khomenska revealed the peculiarities of the development of cultural diplomacy in the work of “The Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions”.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland to Ukraine Yukho Virtanen told about the history of the success of his country, its long-standing democratic traditions, which were formed in conditions of more than two hundred years of autonomy and more than one hundred years of independence. In addition, Finland is one of the most homogeneous countries in Europe, where the development of the economy does not harm the environment, and all citizens enjoy equal democratic rights, including affordable education.

The General Director of the State Enterprise “The Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions” Pavlo Kryvonos did not tell only about the structure and importance of the activities of this state enterprise, but also due to his wealth of experience, presented for the students practical aspects of work and cooperation with representatives of the diplomatic corps.

Students had an opportunity to visit the embassy of Turkmenistan and not only listen to a meaningful analytical narrative about Turkmenistan and Turkmen-Ukrainian relations by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to Ukraine, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Nurberdy Amanmuradov, but also to communicate directly, receiving detailed answers to numerous questions asked about various aspects of energy cooperation, development of regional relations, and work of the embassy and functions of a doyen. 

After returning to the media center of “The Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions”, students were able to listen to a lecture by the diplomat with forty years of diplomatic practice, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine Shiheki Sumi. He shared his own experience of the beginning of diplomatic career and his living in Ukraine, told about the peculiarities of taking into account Japan's geopolitical situation in the world, as well as the choice of his country to develop economy instead of developing military capabilities as the basis of its current success. The lecture, as well as all previous ones, caused a considerable number of questions, for which detailed responses were given.

Students of the Faculty of International Relations sincerely thank “The Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions” and the project “OUTLOOK” for organizing a high-level event and giving an opportunity to pick up  the experience necessary for a successful diplomatic career. We hope that our cooperation will continue in the future!