In the results of the first round of the EU-funded nationwide competition on the European Union among secondary school students "EUROPA NOSTRA", the winner was the team of Lilia Borovets. Borovets, a 10th grader from Velyki Mosty lyceum, Lviv region was the clear leader of the first round scoring 594 points. However the second round of the competition is ahead!

The Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine and the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine have the honour to invite media representatives to a press conference to inform on the priorities of the Swedish Presidency of the European Union (from 1 July till 31 December 2009). The press conference will take place at 11:00 on 1 July 2009 at the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine (10 Kruglouniversytetska Str., Kyiv). Participating in the press conference are: Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine Stefan Gullgren Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine José Manuel Pinto Teixeira, and Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Spain in Ukraine Rafael Osorio de Rebellòn Villar. For accreditation please send a е-mail to Ms Katja Lar sson-Vestergren, Embassy of Sweden, before 16:00 on Tuesday, 30 June 2009: katja.larsson-vestergren@foreign.ministry.se

HIV prevention among uniformed services in Ukraine should be considered as part of formation of healthy life stated the participants in the project’s closing Conference organised by the joint EU-UNDP-UNFPA Project “HIV/STI Prevention Among Uniformed Services in Ukraine” on 16-17 June 2009.

On 17 June a new tool for TV journalists was presented by the Press-service of the EU Council. The audiovisual service provides assistance to TV journalists wishing to cover the activities of the Council of the European Union.

New website launched on June 4 – 7 elections to the European Parliament The press-service of the European Parliament has launched a dedicated website with all you need to know about the European elections.

Teacher effectiveness hampered by lack of incentives and bad behavior in the classroom Three out of four teachers feel that they lack incentives to improve the quality of their teaching, while bad behavior by students in the classroom disrupts lessons in three schools out of five, according to a new Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report prepared with the support of the European Commission.

On 16 June at the 13th EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council, the Cooperation Council welcomed the progress made in EU-Ukraine relations over the last year, recalling in particular the positive impetus provided in this respect by the EU-Ukraine Summit held in Paris in September 2008. The Cooperation Council underlined the significant progress made in negotiations on the new EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. It stressed that the new Agreement would provide considerable scope for deepening EU-Ukraine relations.

Erasmus Mundus is a co-operation and mobility programme in the field of higher education which promotes the European Union as a worldwide centre of excellence in learning. Erasmus Mundus 2009-2013 is a cooperation and mobility programme in the field of higher education that aims to enhance the quality of European higher education and to promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with third countries.

The Council today adopted a directive aimed at facilitating conditions of entry and residence in the EU of third-country citizens for the purpose of highly qualified employment. The directive establishes more attractive conditions for third-country workers to take up highly qualified employment in the member states of the Union, by creating a fast-track procedure for issuing a special residence and work permit called the “EU Blue Card”. The Blue Card will facilitate access to the labour market to their holders and will entitle them to a series of socio-economic rights and favourable conditions for family reunification and movement across the EU.

Ukrainian-Polish Students Forum took place in Ternopil National Economic University, on June, 1-2. Forum was a ‘live’ meeting of Ukrainian and Polish students, allowing them to get to know one another and to discuss different projects.