Utøya Remembers: How SD Platform Represented Ukraine at AUF Summer Camp 2026

Utøya is a living symbol that the idea of solidarity and democracy is stronger than hatred. Every year AUF gathers more than a thousand of its activists here, among memorials to fallen comrades, and it is here that the organization's summer camp takes place. Visiting this island is a kind of initiation: it is here that one comes to understand why Norwegian social democrats take the values they defend so seriously.

From 29 July to 2 August 2026, SD Platform activists once again went through this initiation, as our cooperation with AUF has continued since 2023. The delegation was represented by Yelyzaveta Boryskina — coordinator of the NGO «Women's Lobby» — and Yan Sydorchuk, an activist of SD Platform.

The first day was devoted to getting to know the island and its history: meeting more than 1,000 camp participants, a meeting with AUF's international secretary Lina Elmawardy, and a visit to the memorial.

What followed was a packed program of high-level meetings. Camp participants and guests heard speeches by AUF leader Gaute Borstad Skjervø and the head of LO Norge, Norway's largest trade union, Kine Asper Vistnes. There was a meeting with Norway's Minister of International Development Åsmund Grøver Aukrust, at which the SD Platform delegation spoke about the organization's work and the current situation in Ukraine. The conversation with Norway's Minister of Defence Tore Onshuus Sandvik was especially substantive — it covered the shortage of air defense equipment, the work SD Platform does with veterans, the situation of the civilian population, and the assistance Norway is already providing and plans to provide to Ukraine going forward.

A symbolic moment was the meeting with Minister of Finance Jens Stoltenberg — former NATO Secretary General, and on that July day in 2011, Norway's Prime Minister, whose cabinet was hit by the first explosion. The SD Platform delegation presented him with the guide "The Path to Ukraine's Recovery and Justice".

The same document was given to Stefan Löfven — former Prime Minister of Sweden, now President of the Party of European Socialists (PES) — with whom an equally frank dialogue about Ukraine also took place. The delegation also spoke with the leader of the Labour Party in the Oslo City Council, Marte Sjørning Lund — agreeing on further cooperation in women's projects! There was also an interesting meeting with the Minister of Health and Care Services, Jan Christian Vestre, about supporting our doctors and their fair provision.

Lisa and Yan also met with international leaders from AUF's regions, learned more about the youth wing of the Palestinian Fatah movement, and spoke with friends from the Social Democratic Youth of Denmark (DSU) — an exchange of experience that goes far beyond the strictly Ukrainian agenda.

A particular highlight of the visit was Yelyzaveta Boryskina's speech before all the summer camp participants and Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre — an opportunity that not all of AUF's international guests get. She spoke about the everyday reality of war for Ukrainian youth — sleep broken by air raid sirens, studying alongside working not out of ambition but out of the need to survive — and about how, despite all this, Ukraine is not only surviving but organizing, defending its rights, and rebuilding. She closed with a request not to let Ukraine become yesterday's news.

This visit was not only about official meetings but also an opportunity to showcase Ukraine through culture. At a "snack party", SD Platform treated Norwegian participants to Ukrainian sweets, and Yan Sydorchuk prepared and presented a presentation about Luhansk region — its nature, its industrial and folk heritage, and what it has become because of the war unleashed by Russia.

The visit concluded with an agreement to deepen cooperation: the parties discussed a possible visit by AUF activists to Ukraine, to SD Platform's flagship event — SD Campus. For an organization that has now taken part in AUF's camp for a fourth year running, this is a logical progression from getting acquainted to concrete joint plans that are already being realized in the near future. We thank AUF for the invitation and for the trust — and for the reminder, every year, that solidarity between our peoples is not weakening.