Norwegian network for research on Ukraine – UKRAINETT – has been officially launched today during special event in Oslo.

State Secretary of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Eivind Vad Petersson during the opening remarks mentioned the importance of this initiative for the development of the Ukrainian-Norwegian relations and receiving non-biased information about Ukraine. Сhargé d'affaires of Ukraine in Norway Dr Lilia Honcharevych also welcomed the initiative. “At this moment when Ukrainians fight for their right to exist on their own territory with their own identity, language, culture, it is extremely important that Ukrainian stories are told by Ukrainians themselves. The need for knowledge about Ukraine as well as about its history, society and culture is huge in order to understand the spirit of Ukrainians and reasons for our fierce fight for freedom.” The well-known Ukrainian writer Yurii Andrukhovych made an entry on the topic "Why should Norwegians read Ukrainian literature?”, which was followed by a panel debate on the need for knowledge about Ukraine, led by Martin Paulsen from the University of Bergen.

UKRAINETT shall contribute to:

• Bringing knowledge about Ukraine to Norwegian decision-makers, public administration, business and civil society
• Promoting research on Ukraine and teaching Ukrainian studies at Norwegian universities and research institutions
• Creating an arena where researches can present and discuss their researches with each other, but also get input from practitioners and decision-makers about their knowledge needs.
• Being a gathering point for Ukrainian researchers who have fled to Norway as a result of Russia`s invasion.
• Organizing an annual Ukraine conference on relevant topics
• Strengthening the dissemination of Ukrainian research to the general public; establishing a website with an overview of researches, publications, projects and events on Ukraine.