On April 13-15, 2026, IVO president Grigorij Mesežnikov, together with analyst and activist Juraj Mesík, an external expert of the institute, visited Kyiv, where they held a series of meetings with representatives of Ukrainian civil society, representatives of state institutions and the media. The purpose of the visit was to express solidarity with the population of the country fighting for freedom and independence against the brutal aggression of the current Russian regime and to convey to the Ukrainian audience the messages of that part of Slovak society that understands what is at stake in Ukraine in this struggle. 

Mesežnikov and Mesík discussed the overall situation in Central Europe, current events in Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, as well as some contexts (regional, European, transatlantic) of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war on three Ukrainian TV channels – Freedom, Apostrof and 1+1, on Radio NV, in an interview for the daily Yevropeyska Pravda and at numerous meetings – with philosopher Yevhen Bystrytsky, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin, advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky Mykhailo Podoljak, employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, local civil activists, as well as with the EU representative in Ukraine, Katarína Mathernová, and the OSCE representative in Kyiv, Petr Mareš. 

The visitors from Slovakia were interested in how Ukrainians see the chances of ending the war and the prospects for their country’s membership in the EU and NATO. 

The Slovak experts were accompanied during the visit by Oleksij Baranovskij, a reporter for the Freedom TV channel.