Professor Olga Garaschuk, Vorstandsvorsitzende
Професор Ольга Гаращук, президент
Tübingen, December 2025
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, dear members of the German Ukrainian Academic Society, dear colleagues and friends,
The year 2025, and thus the first quarter of the 21st century, is approaching its end. A year in which, unfortunately, the world has not become any better. A year in which it became clear also to the West Europeans that Europe’s security is anything but granted. That the old treaties, partnerships and alliances belong more to the past than to the future (think of the Trump administration’s ‘National Security Strategy’). That
what is urgently needed is our own capacity to act. And thus, thanks Trump and putin, in 2025 Ukraine is turning from the poor eastern relative, a country that has been attacked and deserves some help from a moral point of view, into an important strategic partner, the only democratic country who knows how to fight a modern war. This notion was summed up succinctly by the Chairman of the Munich Security Conference 2008-2022 Wolfgang Ischinger “As long as this war is fought vigilantly and courageously by our Ukrainian friends, Europe is safe”. Yes, the Western Europe might be a bit safer (the hybrid war, including drones flying over airports, is, of course, going on) as long as Ukraine fights, paying with lives of its sons and daughters, but the whole continent can only feel safe and secure when muscovy is defeated. The sooner the better.
In these challenging times, full of fights for “the minds and the hearts” of people, the role of educated and proactive scholars is invaluable. And I thank all you, especially our colleagues who themselves had to flee the war, for your everyday scholarly work as members of our society. Together, we are proud to look back at our year’s activities highlighted in our quarterly Newsletter, the written and spoken contributions made by our members, and this year’s Days of Ukraine in Bavaria. I also cordially invite you to our next meeting on September 7th -9th 2026 in Wildau (Brandenburg) and in Berlin, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our society. We are extremely pleased that the establishment of the German-Ukrainian University
Network, the vision the board pursued since 2016, came true in 2025. We thank DAAD for their generous support and warmly congratulate all our members who became a part of this exciting collaborative network. We are also extremely grateful to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for supporting hundreds of displaced Ukrainian scholars via their Philipp Schwartz Initiative and the EU-funded MSCA4Ukraine
programme, the Volkswagen Foundation for continuing to fund the (virtual) Ukraine Institute for Advanced Study, enabling the program to continue until 2029, and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities for the continuous support of the Young Network TransEurope.
We are very encouraged that the topic of science cooperation and knowledge-driven economy was included on the agenda of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024 in Berlin, thanks to the unwavering support of the BMFTR (formerly BMBF) and the Alliance of German Science Organizations (Allianz der Wissenschaftsorganisationen). Moreover, these efforts led to the topic of science being also discussed during the
Ukraine Recovery Conference 2025 in Rome, which culminated in the launch of the International Coalition for Science, Research, and Innovation in Ukraine.
At the end of this turbulent and challenging year, I want to cordially thank you, our members, for your engagement and for all the energy you put into your daily work to advance the goals of our society. Thank you for the initiation of and participation in all big and small collaboration projects, for your time, for sharing your knowledge and expertise, for your donations, and for all your efforts aiming at strengthening the
scientific ties with Ukraine and increasing the knowledge about Ukraine in Germany and other countries. Together we advance science for the better future of the world, ensure the support of Ukraine continues and make the Ukrainian voice head.
Слава Україні!
Prof. Dr. O. Garaschuk