Associate Professor Julia Zharikova, head of the Greek Philology and Translation Department of Mariupol State University, took part in the The 12th Annual Pan-Pontian Federation Youth Festival, which took place from June 20 to June 27 in Norwalk, USA. The MSU professor acted as a representative of Ukraine as part of the World Pontian Youth Coordinating Committee.

The festival was organized by the Pan-Pontian Federation of the USA and Canada. The event united representatives of Greek youth from America, Australia, Greece, Cyprus, Germany, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and other countries. Among the participants was Victoria Kravchenko, a graduate of Mariupol State University, who represented the Hellenic Coordinating Youth Council of the Greeks Abroad (ΣΑΕ) of the Black Sea and Central Asia countries.

Within the frameworks of the festival, the participants attended the Pontian Society «Pontos» of Norwalk, the Consulate General of the Hellenic Republic in New York, met with Consul General Konstantinos Kutras and Mary Theofilos, the Ambassador of Greece to the United Nations and took part in various workshops.
 

During the visit, I got an interesting experience in organizing events specifically for young people, which are mostly interactive. A number of important meetings were held during which I was able to tell the representatives of the diplomatic corps, international organizations and Greek federations from all over the world about the activities of the Federation of Greek Societies of Ukraine and Mariupol State University to popularize Greek culture, language and history,

– Julia Zharikova.

As a result of the visit to the United States, the representatives of the Greek diaspora began preparations for the III World Congress of Pontian and Youth, which will take place in June 2020 in the Thessaloniki (Greece). We remind you that the II World Congress was attended by the students of the Faculty of Greek Philology and the Translation of MSU.