Europe Day without Europe
The national affairs, competitions, dances, and songs are a traditional set of attributes of Europe Day celebration, which is held in Kyiv on an annual basis. The echo of the forthcoming Soccer Championship includes a huge line to the tent with free souvenirs for Euro-2012: magnets, pens, key rings, balls, badges, fan reference books, and openers. Officialism is another traditional feature of The Day: Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Kostiantyn HRYSHCHENKO speaks about the importance of Eurointegration.
Kyiv was not the only venue of celebrating The Day of Europe. The culture-entertaining and sports events have taken place in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Ternopil, and Luhansk oblast. The Dnipropetrovsk authorities united for the first time The Day of Europe and the traditional folk festival Petrykivsky dyvotsvit.
In Kyiv, Europe was mostly about food and entertainment. Not everywhere though. The Swedish tent focused on the global problems. The Swedish Embassy presented an exhibit of sketches “One degree Celsius higher,” which is focused on climate change. “We want to encourage the Ukrainians, therefore we ask them: what do you do for saving the environment?” officer on the questions of culture, the press and information of the Swedish Embassy Tetiana NEKRASOVA says. In her words, people eagerly answer this question. Someone wrote, “I drive an ecological car powered by ecological fuel.”
The tent presenting Ukraine was the largest. There were neither brochures about the country, nor competitions. However, the Salvador Dali Art Institute of Modeling and Design offered to try one’s hand in the capacity of a potter and make a motanka doll.
Now about the impressions. In spite of the importance of this day as a symbol, when representatives of European countries gather in the capital’s central street, it was hard to get rid of the feeling that getting closer to Europe is taking place in oversimplified forms, via food, dances, football, and official rhetoric. What is going on in Europe these days? What challenges and problems is it facing? What does Ukraine mean for Europe? The feast was not about that at all. Surely, it was not a scientific-practical conference, but still… So, the main attributes of Europe stayed overboard of The Day of Europe.
There is a threat that true Europe which demands efforts from everyone will seem essentially less appealing to us than Spanish omelets and free key rings.
And the final story. While we were trying (in vain) to find a tent representing France, a middle-aged woman nearby was persistently trying to find Russia among the EU members.
