Ukraine’s Civil Society after 4 Years of War: “We Need New Arguments”

And while European leaders are trying to cope with this new reality, Ukrainians are suffering on a daily basis in the severest winter during the war so far, under constant Russian siege. Constructing a hopeful vision for their future seems harder than ever for Ukrainian civil society organisations. How do they find a way to maintain their work and their hope for the future? We spoke with our colleagues in Ukraine, who are working every day for a strong and resilient society in the face of war.

Working Through Winter

“It was impossible to work effectively”, says Mariia Patrul of the Green Youth of Ukraine, describing this “critical” winter: cold apartments forcing people to leave their cities, internet not being available for large periods of time. This situation has not only affected the work of Ukraine’s civil society, Bohdan Ferens (SD Platform) says, but the psychological and physical state of its members as well.

Ferens’ SD Platform, working on designing a “peaceful post-war period” and constructing just and fair recovery plans for the future, says the current situation strains their work enormously: “It was, I think, easier at the beginning of the full-scale invasion to do so [designing a future vision, red.] (…) it’s so difficult to predict when this war will end and under which circumstances”.

And these conditions are not the only thing impacting the work of Ukrainian civil society. As Ivanna Khrapko, representing the youth council of labour union FPU, says: working conditions and worker’s rights have always been a problem in Ukraine, before the start of the full-scale invasion as well. And now that many Ukrainian workers reside in other European countries, the challenge is to “improve labour conditions in Ukraine – otherwise Ukrainians won’t come back to rebuild Ukraine themselves.”

If anything, Patrul says, the winter “’pause’ gave us the opportunity to conserve our resources. Therefore, we have not lost our optimism and hope.”

Change from within

Oleksandr Tomashchuk, representing the Ukrainians in The Netherlands Foundation, has observed a decrease in support for Ukraine after the first years of war. Reprioritization, he says, was necessary to continue his foundation’s work: to gather support, more attention is now given to community building and cultural exchange between Ukrainian diaspora communities and Dutch society.

Asked about possible explanations for apparent declining public support for Ukraine, Mariia Patrul states it is not merely a European problem. “The shock effect has passed”, she argues. “Support is also declining within Ukraine itself. People are tired of four years of war.” And with rising inflation, supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces is becoming increasingly difficult.

The situation prompts Ukrainian civil society members to criticize their government’s efforts to maintain European solidarity. Declining European public support is partly imputable, Patrul thinks, to “the problems of the Ukrainian elite demonstrating a certain degree of disorganization, a lack of strategy.”

Ferens echoes this sentiment, stating “A lot of things have changed since 2022, but we have been using the same arguments, the same patterns in our communication. We need to find new arguments.”

Changing the debate

“80% of the discussion is about military support and ‘peace guarantees’”, Khrapko thinks. “Which is important, which we depend on for our lives. But from my perspective, without a discussion about more workers, good working conditions and workplaces in Ukraine, we cannot have the prospect of rebuilding a strong Ukraine.”

More efforts could be made from the Ukrainian side, Ferens thinks, to highlight what he calls the ‘human approach’: strengthening Ukrainian democracy, improving institutional capacity and educating young people in the context of election processes and democratization. This approach could convince Europeans to maintain solidarity in prospect of “a better and fairer Ukraine” after the war.

But there is an important role European politicians could and should play here, Patrul says. “It’s understandable that Europeans feel confused when they hear Ukraine needs help but then see corruption scandals in the news. So, European politicians should consistently push for real changes within Ukrainian political and state elites.” Ferens agrees, saying “We have to face our internal challenges (…) we have to do our homework, definitely, but Europe should take into account under which kind of circumstances”. And supporting Ukrainian civil society, he says, is a good way to pursue face these challenges.

Demanding a Different Europe

Changes have to be made on the European side of things as well. The current European discussion on Ukraine sometimes feels very abstract for Ukrainians themselves, Patrul stresses: “When you have an imperialist and authoritarian neighbour, there are no ‘peace guarantees’. The only guarantor of peace is a strong Ukrainian army – and for Ukraine to take its place among European society”.

And moreover, Khrapko argues, “There is no value in discussing ‘peace guarantees’ when European countries are still buying Russian gas and oil via backdoors.” As long as the Russian military machine is still partly financed with European money, peace cannot be guaranteed – for Ukraine, and thus for Europe.

Because, Patrul says, Europeans don’t always seem to understand thorough enough that Ukrainians are fighting for European freedom as a whole, and is “defending Europe itself”. It’s natural, she argues, that Europeans “don’t feel the same fear of war”, but Ukraine is “at the heart of Europe, and a neighbour you can truly work with” – something European leaders should put in more effort to explain to their societies, she thinks.

Turn The Argument Around

In the quest for ‘new arguments’, as Ferens called for above, it might help to turn the discussion around, says Oleksandr Tomashchuk of the Ukrainians in The Netherlands Foundation. “Many people in European societies understand why it is important to support Ukraine from a perspective of common sense and empathy.”

The debate about future Ukrainian EU admittance lacks one clear perspective: what Ukraine has to offer the EU, he says. “I can sense a certain feeling that Ukraine is weak, and needs to be helped. But Ukraine – with all its experience and sheer amount of armed forces – can play a leading role in European defence architecture after the war.”

It is not only about helping the ‘weaker one’, he argues, but it is also about what Ukraine can provide: extra land, extra labour, military strength, intelligence, and a country full of people who share the norms and values of European democracy and justice.

When Tomashchuk imagines the future of Ukraine, he cannot imagine one without Europe. “But Europeans should be honest: there is no future of Europe without Ukraine.”