Ethnic minorities in Ukraine have experienced a revival since independence in 1991, with growing ethnic self-awareness and participation in social, economic, and political life. This is evidenced by increases in minority populations between censuses from 1989 to 2001, the formation of over 1,300 civic organizations, and growth in schools teaching minority languages. However, this revival has also led to tensions, as minorities strive for autonomy and separatism, and compete for influence, causing issues between groups like Crimean Tatars and Russians. To manage tensions, Ukraine needs effective ethnic cultural management, ethnic cultural competence, and intercultural education to foster understanding between groups.

1. ETHNIC MOBILITIES IN UKRAINE: CHALLENGES FOR
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Ethnic mobilities (in a broader sense – ethnic revival) are one of the most
remarkable traits of the post-Soviet developments in Independent Ukraine (from
1991). The two main markers of these mobilities are to be mentioned : 1) intensive
awakening of ethnic self-consciousness among national minorities and coming back
to their ethnicities, trying to maintain their ethno-cultural originalities and to activate
especially their cultural activities which are the core of their ethnicities; 2) search for
possibilities to participate more visible in social processes, to become energetic
actors in building nation-state in Ukraine and to occupy adequate niches in
economic, political and cultural life of a new state.
Conformation for that we can find in the following facts: a) increasing of
representatives of ethnic minorities in the composition of Ukraine’s population
[(period between two censuses 1989 (preIndependence) and 2001
(afterIndependence)]: Crimean Tatars: 47 000 - 248 000 ( in 2008 - above 260 000);
Romanians: 135 000 - 151 000; Armenians: 54 000 - 100 000; Azerbaijani: 37 000 -
45 000; perceptible increasing was registered by other minorities too; b) coming into
being civic organizations of ethnic minorities (nowadays there are above 1 300 of
them on national, regional and local levels all around the country); c) revival of
interest for schooling in ethnic languages ( Romanians - 92 schools, Hungarians - 70,
Crimean Tatarians - 15, Moldovians - 7, Polish - 5; d) their ethnocultural activities
are realized in more than 2000 art collectives and folk-groups.
All the factors mentioned above stimulate, on the one hand, intraethnic
solidarity of minorities and make stronger their positions in Ukrainian society and,
on the other hand, lead to some type of autonomy and strengthen tendencies of
separatism what can cause ethno-cultural fragmentation of Ukrainian society. It is
one of the challenges of ethnic revival. The second one is the tendency to compete
more hard with each other for better positions in social and political activities of the
society. It causes tensions in interethnic relations: for example, Crimean Tatars and
Russians in Crimea; prejudical attitudes to Jews, visible minorities, Roma etc.
Sociological surveys state this tendency measuring the level of tolerance-intolerance

2. in interethnic and intercultural communications. The situation is the next one:
Ukrainians, Russians and Byelorussians are on the top positions in the tolerance
scale; Roma, immigrants from Africa and Asia are on the bottom; Jews, Poles,
Slovaks, Germans, Hungarians are on the middle positions. Under the conditions of
instability the intolerance in Ukrainian society is slightly but increasing concerning,
for example, Crimean Tatars, Roma, immigrants.
Such developments make more complete the formation of an adequate ethno-
cultural space of Ukraine where cultural institutions of different ethnic communities
can function on the equal basis and where their cultures could be presented evident
enough to speak about multiplicity of Ukrainian cultural scene. Today we fix two
dominant components represented on all the territory of Ukraine – Ukrainian and
Russian; cultural activities of other ethnicities are to be seen as a rule in the places of
their compact settlements: Crimean Tatars in Crimea, Hungarians in Transcarpathia,
Romanians in Bukovyna, Bulgarians in Odessa region etc.
To overcome negative consequences of the objective process of ethnic
mobilization and to stimulate intercultural communications and intercultural
dialogues between the ethnicities which are in the process of changing their status
roles special measures must be undertaken, in my understanding the system of
effective ethno-cultural management (first of all, ethno-cultural competence + ethno-
cultural education) is to be developed. It will be one of the topics to be discussed
during my presentation at the session.
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