A Journey in the Name of Democracy – ICLD in Ukraine - part 1

The ICLD Secretary General is travelling to Ukraine to attend the Carpathian Sea Democracy Week 2025. He will be blogging during his journey — a journey both forward and backward in time. Follow him and experience the journey!

My journey began on Saturday afternoon (26 April 2025) – when I took the plane from Visby to Arlanda – my first stop is Krakow. It will be somewhat symbolic to land in a place that also carries so much of Europe's horrors from the Second World War. However, it must be said that Poland is currently a positive example of how the past does not have to determine your future. Here, both the economy and democracy are growing.

History Repeats Itself

Otherwise, it feels as if history has a tendency to repeat itself and that humanity does not seem to learn even from events that are no more than a generation away. My parents grew up during the Second World War, and now we have war in Europe again. I carry with me an underlying feeling that the attack on Ukraine is more than a fight over territorial borders – it is about ethnic background, it is about values, and it is about how a society should be governed.

Where Ukraine's more democratic path provokes the Russian leadership, which believes in the totalitarian path and wants to stifle anything that would threaten that direction. There are those who want to call Ukrainians and Russians brotherly peoples – but the truth is that throughout history, and most recently under the communist Soviet rule, there has been discrimination against and sometimes outright ethnic cleansing of Ukrainians – so we must probably view Russia's attack through a historical pattern, and that there have never been ambitions to see Ukraine as an equal party.

Why Ukraine’s Borders and Democracy Matter

This is a journey through time. To understand. To contribute to development and change. We must also keep track of history. I respect that it can be difficult to hold many parallel thoughts in your head at the same time – everything becomes so much easier if everything is either black or white.

Let me state a few important things that may be of some support and help…

1. Ukraine has the right to its borders as they were before 2014 – everything else becomes completely unreasonable – and if we accept that, as an attacking military power, you can seize land, then we will soon be on a very dangerous path…

2. Ukraine has ambitions to work in a more democratic direction and has taken many positive steps – but Ukraine was, both before the war and now, far from being a liberal democracy with all the rights that Ukrainian citizens are entitled to – these must also be strengthened and changed in the future. It is easy to point to corruption, but there are many more parameters than that – questions about the rights of ethnic groups, free media, etc. – important components of democracy – and also strong local self-government.

3. Ukraine has a long shared history with current Russia – but there are many crucial points that diverge. Starting from human rights and the equal value of all people are basic components for Ukraine in its continued reform work – and here we see that Swedish municipalities and regions can be important collaboration partners – through projects with local Ukrainian municipalities, they can help build a society that can become an important member of the EU – a country based on equal and fair conditions, with a high level of citizen participation in the design of its society, where there is transparency and the possibility of accountability. That will be good for Ukraine, good for the EU, and good for the rest of the world
   

Crossing the Border into Ukraine

Now I will soon get on the bus that will take me across the border from Poland to Ukraine – I hope you continue to follow my travel blog – to report what I experience and see – and reflect on our role in this time – for our common welfare and security, for the next generations, and… (perhaps you can fill in a few things yourself…)

Johan Lilja