Cooperation of EU and Ukrainian Youth Organizations During the 1990s (Based on the Documents of the EU Historical Archive)

The article highlights the development of relations between European and Ukrainian youth organisations after 1991, as well as the challenges that Ukraine has faced in establishing these relations. The author notes that there is currently no research on the cooperation of European youth organisations with Ukrainian youth organisations after 1991. This study was developed thanks to a grant from the Visegrad Fund for Research of the Historical Archive of the European Union. Access to original materials stored in the Historical Archive of the European Union allowed to analyse the main milestones in the development of cooperation between Ukrainian and European youth organizations after restoring Ukraine's independence. The article analyses the change in attitude towards the countries of Eastern Europe as potential partners in the last decade of the existence of the Soviet Union, as well as after its collapse. It was concluded that the opposition between the Soviet Union and Western Europe negatively influenced the development of relations between youth organizations in the transition period. The author concludes that after restoring Ukraine's independence, Ukrainian youth organizations made significant efforts to establish cooperation with European organizations. However, the state did not have enough funds for the development of foreign youth policy and the necessary knowledge due to the lack of experience in cooperation with Western European partners.