«There Was a Time When We in Ukraine Believed That Some Wars Were Too Far Away to Reach Us». The Center for Civil Liberties at LibertyCON 2025
On 25-27 April, the largest student conference in Europe for freedom took place in Prague. The Students for Liberty network has gathered together human rights defenders, political science professors, former and incumbent politicians, activists and public figures from all over the world to discuss current challenges to values in Europe and in the world. Experts have united around the common goal – “For a Freer Future”.
The conference was opened by the discussion “Global Assault on Human Rights” with the participation of Lobsang Sangay, a Tibetan politician, lawyer and former head of the Central Tibetan Administration (the government-in-exile of Tibet), and Anastasiia Holovnenko, Advocacy Campaigns Lead at the Center for Civil Liberties. Tom Palmer, executive vice president for international programs at Atlas Network, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and co-author of Development with Dignity book, moderated the discussion.
Lobsang Sangay spoke at the meeting about the “Chinese global order,” implying that other independent states are conquered and absorbed, and about the new class order introduced in China to segregate the population of subjugated Tibet. In her turn, Anastasiia Holovchenko talked about thousands of deported Ukrainian children, unlawfully detained civilians and war prisoners. They discussed together the new world order, where such authoritarian countries as Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and others are creating a totalitarian alliance using the language of violence, money and weapons, the impact of reduced U.S. funding for global humanitarian programmes and the freedom of speech, also affected by these decisions, and, most importantly, the need to fight together to save the values of the democratic world losing ground in front of our eyes.
“There was a time when we in Ukraine expected that some wars were too far away to reach us. We were witnessing what Russia had been doing for years in Georgia, Moldova and Africa, with concern but with no real involvement. However, our own experience proves that turning a blind eye to crimes in other countries protects no one. Sooner or later, the effects of even the smallest indifference overtake us, and in a way that is closer and more painful than we could have imagined,” Anastasiia Holovnenko emphasised.
The next day, the topic of Russia’s war in Ukraine was present at most events dedicated to the state of democracy in various corners of the world, economic freedom and the free market, and, more prominently, at the special discussion “Ukraine as the Frontline of the Fight for Liberty” moderated by Tom Palmer. Its speakers, Nataliya Melnyk, Director of the Bendukidze Free Market Center, Anna Tymoshenko, CEO of the Ukrainian Students for Freedom network, and Anastasiia Holovnenko from the Center of Civil Liberties, represented the Ukrainian civil society.
More than once, it was emphasised during the discussion that people in Ukraine and in different countries of the world can and do contribute unprecedentedly to stopping Russia in its intention to absorb not only the Ukrainian democracy, but also the European continent. The speakers encouraged the conference participants to disseminate in their countries the ideas of freedom and democracy being defended by the whole Ukrainian society and help us engage the required global humanitarian, military and advocacy support.
Photos by Oleh Sopilniak
