PR SERVICE OF THE "RHYTHM OF EUROPE": INTERVIEW OF HIS EXCELLENCY AMBASSADOR OF UKRAINE IN SERBIA MR. OLEKSANDR ALEKSANDROVIČ

1. Your Excellency, please tell us something about Your country?

Ukraine is both an old and new land. As far back as 5-6 thousand B.C., the so-called Trypillya civilization was present on the territory of modern Ukraine, whose people were already growing grains, domesticated horses and cattle, built two-story clay buildings, and produced objects of art with the characteristic meandering patterns. According to one historical hypothesis, the ancient tribes of Scythians, Sarmatians, Gettae, or Antes were, in fact, one and the same people – the ancestors of Ukrainians. Some Serbian historians also believe that Ukraine is the old homeland of the Balkan Slavic people. Between the 8th and 18th century A.D. Ukraine was called on all European maps as the State of Rus or Rus-Ukraine, and its people – Ruthenians (Rusini) or Ukrainians, while our Northern neighbors of Ugro-Finnish origin called themselves Moscovites. Ukraine had suffered a lot during its occupation by Moscow from the middle 18th century until its new independence in 1991. Our life at that time was comparable to the life of Serbs under the Ottoman empire.
Ukraine today is a modern European country with a rich Slavonic and Christian Orthodox history, aspiring, like Serbia, to become an EU member. The Orange Revolution of 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity of 2013-14 were historic milestones in its current development. These events, which united millions of Ukrainians all around the country, were the expression of our fight against the horrible Soviet legacy, corruption, and criminality and our desire for freedom and justice. They were very similar to the 5th October protest in Serbia. Right now, after defeating our internal problems, we must defend ourselves against the enemy in the East, whose goal is to occupy us again.
Despite these very difficult times, we continue to build our economy and to develop our arts. Ukrainians enjoy free travel to other European countries, exchanging their love for culture, including music.

2. Your Excellency, what do You think about the biggest children television music festival “Serbia in the rhythm of Europe”?

I was very impressed and glad when I learned about this wonderful initiative. I immediately gave my full support to it. It is a great honor for me to see my country Ukraine participating in this project. I am aware that Serbia is a very multi-national land, and the Serbs are very tolerant and hospitable. With your dozen of official minorities and over 20 spoken languages (including Ukrainian), you are truly like a mini European Union. That fact makes Serbia uniquely rich in culture, including performing arts. Naturally, that your project “Serbia in the rhythm of Europe” is very popular among the country’s youth encouraging them to look outside their hometown or country and to learn even more about the cultures of other people.

3. What means for You, Your Excellency, as an ambassador of Ukraine that children of Serbia sing on the language of Ukraine on National television in Serbia in the program “Serbia in the rhythm of Europe”?

I am very grateful to the children from Subotica for performing a song in Ukrainian during the 2019 festival in Vrnjacka Banja. They did it excellently. I hope, they liked the song and the language too. In fact, Serbian and Ukrainian are very similar languages, with 68% common vocabulary. And it is no wonder taking into account the above-mentioned fact about our common history. Ukrainian language in Serbia can also be listened to quite often in the streets of Novi Sad, Sremska Mitrovica, Vrbas, Kula, Indjija and others, inhabited by the local Ukrainian communities. Besides, Ukrainian as a major is lectured at the Philological faculty of the Belgrade University and at the Philosophical faculty of the University in Novi Sad. Likewise, In Ukraine, the Serbian language can be learned in Kyiv and Lviv. And we have regular exchanges of students.

4. Your Excellency, do You think that the festival such as “Serbia in the rhythm of Europe” is, can start and can be so successful in such a big country as Ukraine is with the tradition of so many music festivals, as it is successful in Serbia?

It would be a very good idea to organize a similar festival in Ukraine. Of course, we would need such passionate idealists as David Makevic and Igor Karadarevic to launch such a project. Currently, we do have many similar festivals or competitions being organized in many parts of Ukraine. They are a little different in nature, namely when children dedicate one event to one country and one language, or when children belonging to our own ethnic groups sing in their original languages. Anyways, I believe that your idea should be promoted in other countries. It would be also interesting if you could invite children from other countries who could listen to Serbian performances and make friends with Serbian children.

5. What people from Serbia can learn from the people of Ukraine?

I don’t think that Ukrainians are more experienced than Serbs in any particular art or craft. We can learn a lot from one another, including culture, cuisine, history, sport. Apart from that, a very promising venue for our cooperation is the process of European integration. I know that Ukrainian experts from various ministries come often to Serbia to learn from you how you make reforms to adapt your country to European norms and standards. Another interesting area could be to study our common history, especially many cultural and Orthodox church links in the early and middle ages, as well as the joint combat against nazism in world war two. Finally, as mentioned above, Serbians were trendsetters with their uprising against tyranny in 2000, followed later by Georgians, Ukrainians, and many others. We both fight for our dignity and freedom, which are indispensable parts of European democratic values.