“An important aspect of the EU’s support for civil society and the media is the creation of interesting and fruitful coalitions”

• The European Union supports Ukraine powerfully and effectively as a true, reliable partner, and this support concerns every Ukrainian, even if some don’t consider it. The EU is Ukraine’s largest donor, and that speaks for itself. Of course, I will mention the areas closely aligned with Detector Media’s profile: media, culture, cinema, digital services, education, and youth outreach. Some might say that there are more important issues in times of war, but supporting democracy, freedom of speech, and the education of the younger generation remain key goals in the modern world.
• Over the past years, the EU, in cooperation with Ukrainian partners, has implemented and is implementing large-scale projects for independent media. Examples include support for Public (Suspilne) broadcasting in Ukraine and its development of a strong digital platform, as well as support for the reform of the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council..
• Another area is education. The EU has built a truly international coalition to support Ukrainian education and youth during wartime. This was highlighted by the large-scale communication campaign “Together We Learn & Grow”, launched in September 2024. The campaign continued for almost six months and reached approximately 14 million Ukrainians. It featured various informational events throughout Ukraine, aiming to convey the most comprehensive information to young people about the opportunities provided by the EU after the start of the full-scale invasion for education, professional development, international contacts, mobility programmes, the creation of a safe educational space, and the introduction of a lifelong learning system. Journalists, and, of course, Detector Media, actively covered this campaign, participating in various events and press tours. At the same time, new media projects for the teenage audience were launched with EU support: “Collider” from Suspilne about technology, education, pop culture, and history on YouTube and TikTok, as well as Euroquiz, an interactive quiz, and “Music of Europe”.
• Many journalists participated in the national competition for regional media: “Together We Learn & Grow: The EU invests in a common future, supporting Ukrainian education and youth projects both in the European Union and in Ukraine, promoting the development of talents and skills of young people who will participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine and European integration.” Detector Media was one of the co-organizers of this competition and was involved in the work at all stages – from the creation of the concept and evaluation of works to the awarding of winners.
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• Support for niche media with a focus on constructive journalism is growing through DW Akademie and the Lviv Media Forum. The “MIL Initiative for Youth” from DW Akademie, in partnership with the Suspilne Broadcasting Academy, involves young people in democratic processes. By the way, this is another important feature of the EU’s support for civil society and the media – the creation of interesting and fruitful coalitions and cooperation with European donors. For example, with the initial support of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED) at the beginning of 2024, the project “Holka” by well-known journalists Iryna Fedoriv and Margarita Sytnyk was launched. The media project sharply and accessibly reveals important problems and ways to solve them to citizens. The journalists also cover particularly topical issues, such as the fight against corruption, and form a network of activists to combat it. “Holka” and Detector Media cooperate extensively and fruitfully.
• With the start of the full-scale invasion, the EU launched a large, comprehensive information and awareness campaign to combat disinformation. The “Smart Angel” charitable organization and the 1+1 Channel, along with civil society organizations, including Detector Media, created various videos to debunk fakes and Russian disinformation. In particular, video projects “Goodbye, Fake” (TSN), “Stop Fake” (Breakfast with 1+1), investigations “Life in the Russian Hinterland,” “Language of War,” “Russian Relatives” (1+1), the “Brainwashing Recipe,” project, video digests “Fakes,” “Context” (SLM), “Cyber Defence” on Ukrainian Radio, and others were broadcast. Media literacy texts were also published on online resources: fact-checkers’ articles and a series of interviews, “Anthology of Russian Fakes” on the UNIAN website, etc. For objectivity, it should be noted that despite the obvious effectiveness of the campaign, there was also a discussion in the media community about the expediency of donors supporting oligarchic media groups that produced and broadcast content within this initiative.
• Also, within the EU4INDEPENDENT MEDIA programme, support was provided to many independent media outlets in Ukraine, along with other Eastern Partnership countries. Clearly, the EU’s support for leading Ukrainian media outlets, such as European Pravda (together with EED), Ukrainska Pravda, NV, Babel, etc. helps Ukrainian journalism maintain professional standards.
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• The Creative Europe programme, which helps implement very diverse projects at the intersection of media, culture, digital, and art fields, should also be mentioned. The long-standing and crucial support for the DOCUdays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival is particularly significant.
• The impact of the European Union’s support in the digital sphere, particularly the digitalization of services within the DT4UA project, is quite considerable. This ranges from the recognition of Diia.Signature in Europe to the creation of a new, improved version of the Trembita data exchange system and numerous other services that have fundamentally enhanced the ecosystem of state electronic services.
• In the winter of 2025, the European Union launched its three-year EU Unity4Community project, to be implemented by the Initiative Centre to Support Social Action Ednannia (ISAR Ednannia). The project features various competitions, including opportunities for collaboration between media and civil society organizations. Detector Media is also participating in these competitions, confident that our expertise and the platform of our web portal, the “Media for Change” website, can benefit CSOs, communicators, and journalists.
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• We sincerely welcome the EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarína Mathernová’s announcement in March 2025 of a new, large-scale €10 million EU programme to support independent media in Ukraine. This timely assistance reaffirms the reliability of our partnership, particularly as it was launched precisely when U.S. government support for civil society and media in Ukraine unexpectedly ceased.
• It is also important that increasing numbers of Ukrainians are also engaging with EU projects, both as participants and beneficiaries. Experience demonstrates that this fosters greater citizen awareness, facilitates involvement in reconstruction and European integration processes, and empowers informed decision-making regarding their own lives and Ukraine’s European trajectory, all while working toward the swiftest possible EU accession.