Towards a (re)birth of Ukraine's social democracy | Interview with Bohdan Ferens, founder of SD Platform

The country has to deal with its post-Soviet past, oligarchs, internal corruption issues and – obviously – Russia's war, while at the same time progressive activists in Ukraine have to actually fight the stereotypes surrounding the concept of social democracy.

There are indeed no clear ideological dividing lines between the parties in Ukraine, and even the word "social" often confuses people because of the communist past.

The "pro-Russian" and "Russia-backed" parties are banned by the law, and the course of the country is now clearly "pro-European", but there is also a rise of far-right ideological orientation in the society as a reaction to the Russian brutal invasion and the necessity to defend national identity.

The war that started in 2014, but escalated on February 24, 2022, makes it much harder to implement changes that Ferens and his team are struggling for: a society built on values and the principles of freedom, social cohesion, gender equality and justice.

The team of SD Platform is very young. Ferens and its two fellow founding partners colleagues were under 30 at the time when they launched the platform in 2012.

Ten years later, the organization has become the most visible political youth organization in Ukraine, while maintaining independence from existing political and oligarchic projects. SD Platform keeps mobilizing progressive citizens and prepares to become a political party in the future, while at the moment the martial law does not allow for the establishment of political parties in Ukraine.

He mentions the "pocket parties" that are created not because they have a programme or incarnate a political ideology, but because before they are "vote-collecting tools". But the team remains full of hope.

And the local angle is very important to the SD Platform too as it strives to set up regional contact points throughout all the country's regions called "oblasts".

While the SD Platform receives support from social democrat partner organisations throughout the European Union, such as technical assistance from the Dutch Max van der Stoel Foundation or the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung or traineeships for SD Platform activists at the S&D Group in the European Parliament, Ferens insists that the know-how provided has to be transformed into action on the ground.

This is also why the SD Platform focuses very much on developing concrete policy responses in coordination with civil society organisations such as with teachers on education programmes.

Starting from this autumn, the SD Platform in cooperation with the UK Labour Party's Westminster Foundation will seek to establish a regional consortium for Fair and Inclusive Recovery of Ukraine composed of various stakeholders, including the branches, trade unions, government bodies, non-governmental organizations, international agencies, and local communities.

Source of publication: PES Group website