Visiting Ukrainian NGOs call for more support from Taiwan

Taipei, April 26 (CNA) A delegation of Ukrainian non-governmental organizations visiting Taiwan has called for more support and cooperation from democracies, including Taiwan, in the face of challenges from authoritarian regimes.

"Democracies that are facing threats from authoritarian regimes should be supported" by "stakeholders on an international level," Yevheniia Fedotova, vice president of the Liberal Democratic League of Ukraine, said at a press conference in Taipei on Friday.

The organization, consisting mainly of youth and young adults, is dedicated to building and developing liberal democracy in Ukraine.

The people of Ukraine are still facing an "existential threat," Fedotova said, noting as an example that an estimated 20,000 Ukrainian children have been kidnapped by Russian troops since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Countries sharing the same values of democracy and human rights should jointly call on Russia to return those children to their original families in Ukraine, she urged.

Fedotova's delegation, which arrived in Taiwan on April 22 and will be here until Saturday, has exchanged ideas about potential collaboration with representatives from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the Taiwan People's Party, as well as more than a dozen civil society groups during its visit.

Other members of the delegation are Uliana Dzurliak, an architect involved in rebuilding projects in Ukraine, and Asami Terajima, a Ukrainian journalist with the Kyiv Independent.

Fedotova also appealed for direct assistance from Taiwan because Ukraine is still in need of humanitarian aid, such as water supply systems and medicine, and suggested that the two countries "join forces in research and development projects."

At the same time, Ukraine would like to contribute to Taiwanese society in areas where it has expertise, said Dzurliak, who currently also chairs the Right Room Foundation.

"We are ready to share our experience and best practices in the field of civil protection," Dzurliak added.

"More than 90 percent of civil training centers [in Ukraine] are created by non-governmental organizations," she said, noting that in strong democratic states "grassroots movements play a key role in the protection [and] resilience development" of countries.