German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, President of Poland Andrzej Duda, President of South Korea Yoon Seok-yol and other famous personas are among the participants.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a speech in an online format and First Lady Olena Zelenska along with the Ukrainian delegation were present directly.
Ukrainian speakers at the World Forum in Davos assured that nowadays no one in the world has the opportunity to delay helping Ukraine.
"The message from Ukraine at the forum in Davos is very simple and honest: no one in the free world has the opportunity to delay. I am sure that we have been heard," the President emphasized.
Specially for DestiNations, we asked the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine in Switzerland Iryna Venediktova and the Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Switzerland, the head Ukrainian Society, Andriy Luzhnytsky, to comment on Davos-2023 World Economic Forum and its results.
Iryna Venediktova: "I am sure that the desire to help, which we felt during Davos-2023, will be transformed into concrete practical steps":
"Davos-2023" is a platform where we were able to discuss issues of geopolitics, the financing program and the fate of people living in the tragic realities of war in Ukraine. All Ukrainian issues were discussed through human dimension. The speech of our President once again became a wake-up call for the world. For her part, Olena Zelenska presented the Ukrainian formula for peace at all venues of Davos. All the leaders who participated in the forum were rooting for our first lady. Everyone had a desire to shake her hand or at least gently touch her at official meetings, and on the unofficial sidelines. I am sure that this desire to help, which we felt, will be transformed into concrete practical steps. Our delegation was warmly welcomed at the World Economic Forum. Ukraine is on the front line not only because of the test we are going through. They see our potential, and we have made connections for short- and long-term strategic projects at WEF. It is nice that at such large-scale events we can not only learn from others, but also share our experience. For example, digital progress. It is very important that at this forum, Ukraine had the opportunity to thank Switzerland for its huge help and enlist support for the further restoration of security and justice in our country. At the presidential level and through intergovernmental and interparliamentary contacts, our delegation mobilized further efforts from the Swiss side. I am sure that the results will not be long in coming.
WEF opened immediately after the death of people from a Russian missile in a residential building in Dnipro. We have not yet recovered when another terrible tragedy happened on February 18. The helicopter crash that took the lives of children, adults, management and employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Emergency Service. At that time, the forum focused on grandiose projects of recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine. With tears in our eyes, we talked about attracting funding. Actually, this is the usual state of Ukrainians today - we bear losses, but continue to work tirelessly for the sake of victory.
Andriy Luzhnytskyi: "The main message of the World Economic Forum is that the civilized world must do everything so that Ukraine does not lose":
The next Open Forum Davos-2023 was quite productive, as far as issues related to Ukraine are concerned. An important discussion took place around the issue of attracting investors to the process of rebuilding the Ukrainian state. It was also interesting to see the changes in the opinions of political leaders who had previously been cautious about the war between Ukraine and Russia. Now they fully understand what is happening and what it threatens. Their main message today is that we must do everything possible so that Ukraine does not lose this war.
The world saw the rather threatening fact that a permanent member of the National Security Council of the ONN violated all established legal norms after the end of World War II. He turned on the regime of nuclear terrorism, blackmailing the world with the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
Separately, I would also like to note the discussion regarding the use of "frozen" funds of the Russian Federation. Forum participants discussed the possibility of their legal use for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. And these are significant funds. As of today, about 8 billion dollars have already been discovered and "frozen" in Switzerland alone. Raising this issue at the Open Forum Davos may provide an impetus for more active actions in this direction by the Swiss authorities. Incidentally, there is already a precedent in this regard. Several million dollars of one of the Russian billionaires were arrested in the USA and transferred to Ukraine. I believe that this is only the beginning of this process. For my part, I would like to note that at this year's Ukrainian forum in the Swiss Parliament, we will also raise the issue of using Russian money discovered and seized in the country for Ukraine's needs.
