VISIT OF VOSTOK SOS REPRESENTATIVES TO ESTONIA FOR THE ANNUAL “FESTIVAL OF THOUGHTS”.

“Ukrainian flags hang at every step in Estonia. You walk around the city and feel support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people.”

On August 11 and 12, the executive director of Vostok SOS Yulia Krasilnykova and manager of humanitarian programs Oksana Kuyantseva visited Estonia to participate in the “Festival of Thoughts” in Paide.

The Vostok SOS team visited the “Festival of Thoughts” for the first time in 2017, and later adopted this tradition and organized such an event in Severodonetsk every year.

This year, Kaimo Kuusk, Ambassador of Estonia to Ukraine, and Veronika Svištš, representative of MTÜ Mondo, were also invited to the panel discussion about Ukraine.

“We talked about urgent problems. About the fact that the war and its destructive impact on the lives of Ukrainians is not decreasing, and the number of destructions and broken lives is constantly increasing. And these negative consequences are much greater than the media tell about it and than Europe thinks. They talked about preparations for winter, the need to resettle evacuees from war zones abroad, and the process of evacuating the civilian population as a whole. They also discussed economic problems and the importance of dialogue between international donors and organizations with Ukrainian activists. Because they understand the situation on the ground and understand how and where to help more effectively.

We were pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of the guests and their interest in the topic. All seats were occupied, and everyone had something to say or ask,” Oksana comments on the trip.

During the discussion, they talked about how Estonia helps Ukraine. In particular, MTÜ Mondo collected and donated more than 2 million euros for Vostok SOS and sent a large number of shipments of food, hygiene products, medical equipment, generators, solar panels and other life-saving items.

During the trip, the girls gave several interviews to local media and met with ESTDEV representative Marika Kundla and Kristina Ots, representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Marina Kaljurand, an Estonian diplomat and member of the European Parliament.

Thanks to our Estonian friends for their hospitality and special thanks to Veronika Svištš for organizing this trip and supporting Vostok SOS for many years!23:58