Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University in Lutsk comes to the European Commission in Brussels
On 29 January, the Directorate-General for Interpretation (SCIC) welcomed a group of students and staff from Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University in Lutsk, Ukraine, to the European Commission in Brussels. For many of them, visiting the Commission was described as “better than Christmas” and a dream come true. Their programme included a general presentation on EU policies, a dedicated session on multilingualism, and a visit to the midday Commission’s press briefing, where they experienced the EU’s full language regime in action and saw senior Commissioners at work.
This visit was part of SCIC’s outreach to candidate countries and a concrete expression of the EU’s “unwavering support” for Ukraine alluded to by President Von der Leyen in her speech in Kyiv on Monday on the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion. The students’ strong interest in interpretation and translation as a way to preserve Ukrainian identity underlined the soft power of multilingualism and the importance of nurturing talent beyond major urban centres. The video below, prepared by the students with an English voiceover, captures their journey, impressions, and key takeaways from their time in Brussels.