In the Middle of Breakfast, Ukraine Falls Silent. The Story about SD Campus from a Swedish Participant

They have come to Lviv to learn about social democracy, organizing, and parliamentary work. But every morning they are reminded that all politics in Ukraine begins with the same thing: the struggle for the country’s continued existence.

The silent minute

Just outside Lviv, I am sitting in the hotel breakfast room, talking with the people at my table: two Swedish Social Democratic students and an American who works at the Palme Center. The American is just about to enter the conversation when the loudspeakers come on.

A man begins speaking in Ukrainian. Everyone stands up. The room, just moments ago filled with laughter, chatter, and life, suddenly falls completely silent. Serious expressions spread across the room. The people in the room bow their heads, cross their arms, and listen as a clock ticks through the loudspeakers. Heads bow. Arms cross. Through the loudspeakers, a clock ticks.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

After a few seconds, the same voice says: “Slava Ukraini.” People sit down again. Conversations resume. But the laughter is gone. The seriousness lingers. For more than four years, Ukraine has followed this ritual. Every morning. Every day. A country reminding itself of those who have lost their lives defending it, and of the challenges that lie ahead.

The Ukrainians taking part

I am taking part in SD-campus, a training program organized by the Ukrainian social democratic youth organization SD-platform. In this dining room, alongside the ordinary hotel guests, there are young people from across Ukraine who have come here to learn about politics. The sessions include a lecture on social democracy, a session on how young people in Sweden organize politically, and a workshop where participants role-play as members of parliament.

Many study international relations, some study law, and others journalism. For most participants, this training is their first encounter with politics. The road to political influence is long.

The participants are not necessarily convinced social democrats. Nor does their participation necessarily mean that they will go on to get involved in SD-platform. The hope, however, is that some of them will, and that even those who do not will carry what they have learned from the training into their future work in government, journalism, or civil society.

The injustice of the passport

As a Swede, one is struck by the incredible courage of the Ukrainian people. How they fight every day, whatever their role may be, for the future of their country. But one is also struck by the injustice of the passport. While I made it home relatively easily and could sleep safely in my bed in Stockholm, one participant later wrote to me about his own journey home to Odesa. His train was delayed after a Russian Shahed drone crashed into the train’s overhead contact lines, and in his hometown a bus stop was bombed. Innocent Ukrainians were injured while trying to get to work.

When I asked the participants about their vision for a progressive Ukraine, the war was the issue around which everything revolved. A longing to no longer have to hear the solemn announcement every morning, to no longer have to worry about Russian bombs, or about their country ceasing to exist. Only then can a progressive Ukraine be built.