The People’s Summit in Denmark 2022

During the People’s Summit in Denmark we got the opportunity to strengthen the international agenda by inviting acclaimed speakers from Belarus and Ukraine and to discuss how we can support the two countries’ fight for democracy and freedom.

Through three different events we aimed to add new nuances and give the audience new perspectives on the situation and the state of democracy in the Eastern Neighbourhood Countries as a whole.

“Democracy cannot and should not be taken for granted”.

This was one of the key messages, when we discussed how we can support democratic development in Belarus and Ukraine. On stage were the two human rights activists Olga Aivazovska and Tatsiana Khomich together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Jeppe Kofod.

The strive for democracy cannot be obtained without strong partnerships across sectors. This was made clear when we discussed how to re-build Ukraine after the war. This is exactly what we are trying to do in the New Democracy Fund, which is why we invited some of the members of our consortium on stage: Henrik Underbjerg from IMS (International Media Support), Marie Gad from DI – Dansk Industri, Christine Lund from DUF–Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd, and Yuliya Zakolyabina from Danish Cultural Institute.

Finally, Friday evening we turned on the music and invited to a Eurovision Quiz together with Danish Cultural Institute and the Ukrainian-Danish Youth House. With a special focus on Eastern Neighbourhood Countries, we investigated the political and historical contexts of the world’s biggest song contest. Here it was made clear that popular culture is a strong and important platform that shouldn’t be underestimated.

After three days of important dialogues, meetings, and networking we are filled up with renewed inspiration and energy and looking forward to communicating even more about our work and efforts.

Thanks to our partners at the International Stage: Danish Cultural Institute, IMS (International Media Support), DIPD – Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy, Ukrainian-Danish Youth House, and The Danish National Commission for UNESCO.