What should the state veteran policy look like? This was the topic of a new discussion panel entitled "A Country of Veterans: Opportunities and Challenges" held on 29 February as part of the New Country project by LB.ua and EFI Group.
The panelists discussed what the state should do now when rolling out veteran policies. How will the social contract transform due to the emergence of a huge number of veterans after the war? How to establish cooperation between business, society and the state in this area? And why veteran policy is primarily about respect, not benefits.
The keynote speakers were:
Oleksandr Porkhun, acting Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine, veteran;
Oleksandr Porkhun
Masi Nayem, captain of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, human rights activist
Masi Nayem
Serhiy Poznyak, founder of FinStream and Cronvest, chairman of the Association of Veteran Entrepreneurs, sergeant of the National Guard of Ukraine
Serhiy Poznyak
Roman Kostenko, MP, Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defence and Intelligence, ATO veteran
Roman Kostenko
Ihor Liski, Supervisory Board Chairman of EFI Group investment company
Ihor Liski
Yuriy Hudymenko, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, political activist, leader of Demsokyra (Democratic Axe)
Yuriy Hudymenko
"Veteran policy is very important in the context of the issue we are currently addressing at the state level, which is how to motivate people to go and defend the country," said Roman Kostenko, an MP and veteran. "These issues are quite closely related, and they cannot work without each other. We cannot forget about veteran policy and talk about mobilisation, and we cannot talk about mobilisation without remembering how our soldiers are serving now."
According to Serhiy Poznyak, veteran policy is directly linked to the issue of sovereignty. "If the veterans' issue is not resolved, we will lose our sovereignty. We will not be able to win the war," he said during the discussion.
Yuriy Hudymenko also stressed that the country needs to fundamentally change the Soviet attitude towards veterans.
"The state's Soviet-era attitude towards veterans has led to the fact that society does not really need a veteran. Society needs a portrait of a veteran. A portrait has a huge advantage: it doesn't speak," Hudymenko said. Therefore, in his opinion, it is the respect, honour, and values of society that will be the biggest challenge.
Human rights activist and Armed Forces Captain Masi Nayem shared this opinion.
"Let's stop being rusnya [derogatory for Russians]. Rusnya's veteran policy is about benefits. Let's stop doing this. Because even the Law of Ukraine on the Status of Veterans clearly states that it is intended to establish a respectful attitude towards veterans," Nayem said.
Acting Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, veteran Serhiy Porkhun said that the ministry is currently working on changing the strategy of transition from military career to civilian life.
The speakers' detailed speeches will be published on LB.ua shortly.
