'A place to learn together and from each other about the EU's values.' 'Even though we’re different, we are all Europeans. We’re in the same boat.' 'I learned how we can stay strong.' 'A great opportunity not just to learn more about the EU, its institutions, history and functioning, but also an invaluable chance to connect.' These were some of the participants' comments during the closing session of our EU*Connect project 2025/26.
On 16 April participants, lecturers, supporting partners as well as the organisers at CIFE gathered for the official closing ceremony of the fourth edition of the EU*Connect programme - so far the biggest success, with 154 enrolled participants from Ukraine, Moldova, France and Germany learning about European integration and EU accession as well as about their counterparts and their respective countries.
After over five months = 88 hours of learning and discussing online twice a week, the participants, professors and organisers met for a last time to exchange about their experiences and say goodbye. Matthias Waechter, DG CIFE, Auriane Jousse, manager of the programme at CIFE, Jérémy Rossignol and Michaela Christmann of the Franco-German Youth Office (OFAJ/DFJW), Viktoriya Gura, Deputy Director of IPACS, together with her colleagues at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, as well as Lorenzo Ercolani of JEF Deutschland Berlin-Brandenburg, and several of the lecturers contributing to this programme congratulated the students for their achievements. In her speech, Viktoriya Gura passionately asserted that Ukraine’s place is in the EU and addressed the students as 'agents of change to make the world a better place for everyone'.
We thank all participants for their great involvement and motivation and congratulate them for having successfully completed their studies under often extremely difficult conditions!
Our thanks go also to all professors who showed an enormous dedication for this special project. A heartfelt thank you to our partner with whom we have now been collaborating for four years in a row, our colleagues of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service (IPACS) at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. We still haven’t had the chance to meet in person, but our cooperation is characterised by personal trust and deep sympathy.
A special thank you goes to Franco-German Youth Office that generously and unconditionally supported again this project, which truly embodies, as Jeremy Rossignol put it, the OFAJ’s mission, to promote peace and the European values through youth exchange.
And to Auriane Jousse who ensured with professionalism and patience throughout the five months that everything ran so smoothly.
We hope to stay in touch with the participants and to meet them sometime soon in real!