Second Reunion of the Munich Young Leaders
24-26 June 2011

Munich Young Leaders who were participants in 2009, 2010 and 2011 met in Kiev for their second reunion from 24-26 June 2011. It was initiated and organized by local Munich Young Leaders. The attendees came from a number of different countries including Kuwait, Poland, Russia, Armenia, India and Israel.

The reunion began with a festive welcome dinner at the German embassy hosted by H.E. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine. The speaker of the evening was Arseni Yazenyuk, former foreign minister of Ukraine, former speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, founder and chairman of the Ukrainian “Front for Change” political party, who talked to the participants about the priorities of Ukrainian foreign and security policy.

The Saturday started with a panel discussion at the German Embassy with four speakers: Professor Ihor Burakovskyy, head of the board of “The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting” in Kyiv; Valeriy Chaly, deputy director-general of the Razumkov Centre and former vice minister of foreign affairs; Anka Feldhusen, deputy ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kiev; and Maria Juríková, deputy head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine. The debate concentrated on Ukraine’s place in Europe and the upcoming EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. Later the Munich Young Leaders had an opportunity to talk to the campaign team of Vitaliy Klitchko, leader of the “Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform”, about the domestic policy situation in Ukraine. Furthermore, the current trial of Yulia Tymoshenko and former members of the government were on the agenda.

The next item on the programme was a meeting with Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Kostjantyn Hryschtschenko, who talked to the Munich Young Leaders at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and made some interesting remarks about the self-image of Ukraine as a “non-bloc”-state and as a bridge between Europe and Russia. Another topic was the Chinese engagement as loaner and investor in Ukraine. The afternoon was devoted to the cultural part of the reunion including a guided tour at the Pinchuk Art Centre, a renowned museum of modern art. The programme concluded with a boat trip on the Dnieper River and a guided tour of Kiev.