Events like YEYS show Ukrainians that Europe has not forgotten about them

Under daily bombardments, when their main goal is to stay alive, young Ukrainians cannot afford to think about the distant future, says 18-year-old Yevheniia Senyk, YEYS 2025 participant and youth activist from Ukraine. She shares how the war has affected youth organisations in her country and why it is important to give them a voice on the European stage.

How do you think your organisation has been impacted in the last three years by the war in Ukraine, and how have your operations changed?

Formed in 2013, the goal of SD Platform is to protect values such as freedom, solidarity, equality and justice because we believe that these are the most important values to create a progressive future in Ukraine. We also have a lot of foreign branches to maintain the engagement of Ukrainian youth abroad who have been forced to leave their homes.

First of all, the war has impacted the work of the regional branches because we have a lot of branches, for example, Odessa and Zaporizhzhia, that are very close to the front-line areas and the people there experience bomb shelling every day. It's hard for them to think about organising events when their main goal is just to stay alive. Daily bomb shelling affects youth all over the country because you can't afford to think about the distant future, because you don't know what will happen tomorrow or even what will happen in two hours.

Also, because of the war, the financial situation in Ukraine is unstable, resulting in a lack of employment for young people. Young people must find a job while also trying to study and to be involved in youth organisations, it's a difficult balance to achieve.

After the full-scale invasion, many young people started to fight against Russian aggression with weapons in their hands instead of through youth councils or youth organisations. As a result, young people do not have political experience. It will be hard in the future to make sure that everyone is able to participate in politics properly.

At SD Platform, we provide free, non-formal, political education to make sure that young people know how they can influence politics at regional and national levels.

Why do you think it's important for youth organisations or representatives of these organisations to come to events such as YEYS?

First of all, these international events show Ukrainians that Europe has not forgotten about us. It's important for us to be here, to have a voice, to ask others about their experiences and to bring new ideas back to our country.

Also, it shows that we are able, and we are committed to becoming part of the European Union because if we are here, then European youth can listen to us and we can listen to them. It's like a partnership between all of us.

What do you think young people need as support, as help, to encourage them to stay involved in youth work and youth activism?

I think it's very important for the European Union to consult with Ukrainian youth. I think if the European Union continues to provide us with these opportunities to have a voice in shaping EU policy, we will reach common conclusions that will be beneficial for both sides because we are part of Europe, so it must be a common conclusion in all policy areas. Also, if the European Union continues to provide financial support to Ukrainian youth to participate in events such as this one, it will encourage them to stay engaged in politics as the financial burden will not pose such a big barrier to participation.

Yevheniia Senyk is a youth activist with SD Platform, a member organisation of the National Youth Council of Ukraine. She is an international relations student at Lviv Polytechnic National University.