You're reading: French TV host Vedrine promotes European way

Olivier Vedrine is a French political scientist who has a passionate belief in Europe and prefers to think of the continent as his homeland more than any particular country.

 

Vedrine writes reports for the Assembly of European Regions, a group that supports interregional cooperation and democracy. He also is setting up a Europe-focused think tank in Kyiv and is behind the introduction of French bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Ukrainian universities, which he says will begin on Feb. 21. He’s also on television as a co-host of a weekly English-language political talk show, UA Tea Time, on Ukraine’s 1st Channel.

International background

Vedrine grew up in America and later went on to complete an American master’s of business administration in France. He also has roots in Ukraine and Russia, and learned Russian from an early age.

Vedrine toured Russia for a couple of years as a visiting fellow at Lomonosov and Omsk Universities before a cousin he had never met invited him to Ukraine in 2012 to talk about Europe. Olivier’s cousin turned out to be Dmitry Vydrin, a political advisor to several Ukrainian presidents.

The Yanukovych era

Vydrin introduced Vedrine to what was then the political elite: former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, ex-President Viktor Yanukovych and former First Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Arbuzov.

“My first impression was that they were not intelligent,” Vedrine told the Kyiv Post. “Yanukovych was for me violent, non-clever, non-very intelligent. I thought he was very violent. I saw that in his attitude and he controlled everybody because of this violence.”

Vedrine’s plans to open a business school in Russia were dashed because of official interference in his friend’s university so he decided to try Kyiv instead.

“But I had two years of problems with Dmytro Tabachnyk (Ukraine’s former Education Minister). It was impossible to open my business school. It was impossible to open any institute…They were against the European idea,” he said.

EuroMaidan Revolution

Meanwhile, Vedrine became active on the conference scene and gave several lectures at Ukrainian universities on Europe. When the EuroMaidan Revolution started, he was invited to speak on the square and in the trade union house, where many public speeches took place.

“I was very surprised about one thing: My friends said to me, ‘We want to go to Europe’ but I say ‘Really, you know, it is not easy, we have a crisis,’ and everybody say ‘We don’t care. We want to (be) in Europe even with crisis than to go back to Moscow’.”

Vedrine champions the civil society that strengthened from the EuroMaidan Revolution and says that change is possible because of the “will of the Ukrainian people.” But they must take their destiny into their own hands. At the moment, he says the “Ukrainian people are waiting for some help from abroad.”

Like many who stood on Maidan, the protests deeply affected Vedrine.

“You know I can’t watch that ‘Winter on Fire’ film. Even when I watch the trailer I begin to cry because for me this was not just history, this was my life…All of us who were there have a duty to carry on the spirit of the Maidan for those who died,” he said.

Promoting European-style Education

Vedrine estimates that about 10 students will enroll this February at French degree programs and 40 in September when “full promotion has taken place.” A two-year MBA costs just under €11,000.

IPAC business school in France is helping him start the degree programs, according to Vedrine.

The think tank, called the European Continental Union, will be registered in Paris, but is still in the “beginning stages,” added Vedrine.

As for UA Tea Time, the weekly English-language political talk show, Vedrine wants use his contacts to develop the show’s political analysis.

And as the former editor of the Russian edition of Revue Defense Nationale, a French strategy magazine, Vedrine understands the importance of networking.

“I am a member of a VIP agency in France and I am negotiating with another VIP agency in the U.S. to speak at a conference there,” he said. “It’s very funny because with this VIP agency you have footballers, you have comedians, actresses, top models and politicians. And it’s really cool to be in the same agency as a very well-known footballer or top model.”

What amazes him about Ukraine is the people’s love of liberty throughout their history, which has influenced their culture. But the country has two wars to win: against corruption and in the Donbas.

“For me one thing is obvious,” he said. “We have to think about happiness for the people. For that you need security and prosperity.”