President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, former Prime Minister of Britain (1997-2007) Tony Blair and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk will participate in the 11th Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, President of the Republic of
Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves and President of European Parliament Martin
Schulz will officially open the 11th YES Annual Meeting on Sept.12.
Barroso will be a special invited guest of the meeting, which this
year will bear the title “New Ukraine, New Europe, New World – Building
and Defending.”
President Barroso will deliver his remarks “Working Together for a
United Ukraine in a United Continent” during an evening reception held
on Friday, Sept. 12.
Earlier on Sept. 12, businessman and philanthropist Sir Richard
Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group, will deliver his perspectives on
“How Can Business Contribute to Finding Peace for Ukraine?”
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Prime Minister of Ukraine, will open the second official day of the YES Annual Meeting on September 13.
Tony Blair, Patron of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom (1997-2007) will deliver special remarks
entitled “Toward Reconciliation” also on Saturday.
In addition, on Saturday, leaders of Ukrainian political parties will
discuss the issue of “Parliamentary Elections: Breakthrough or
Entrenchment of the Old?” featuring a panel including Anatoliy
Hrytsenko, MP of Ukraine and head of the Civil Position Party; Oleh
Liashko, MP of Ukraine and head of the Radical Party of Ukraine; Yuriy
Lutsenko, advisor to the President of Ukraine and head of the Bloc of
Petro Poroshenko Party and Sergiy Tigipko, MP of Ukraine and head of the
Strong Ukraine Party.
The 11th YES Forum will be moderated by Chrystia Freeland, Member of
the Parliament of Canada and Stephen Sackur, presenter of BBC HARDtalk.
“More than 350 leaders in politics, business, society and media
representing 20 countries will discuss the impact of the historical
events since last November in Ukraine on Europe and the world, how to
address Ukraine’s internal and external challenges and the risks that
come with them for Europe and beyond? How can Ukraine’s international
partners effectively support the country’s further development?,” reads a
press release from the meeting’s organizers.
For the first time in its history, the YES Annual Meeting will take
place in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. In past years, the forum was
held at its traditional venue, the Livadia Palace in Yalta in Crimea,
which was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in March.
