Anatolii Shalaiev, Director of Communication at Ukrainian House UK CIC, worked as a trainer on the CONNECT-EU MEDIA LAB project, run by the Academy of Ukrainian Press. The Academy held two two-day trainings, “EU Integration Without Myths”, on 20–21 September and 8–9 October 2026. Both took place in person in Kyiv. The project, CONNECT-EU (Communities, News, Networks for European Union), is supported by the Ukraine2EU programme. The Academy describes Anatolii as an expert in local self-government, an investigative journalist, a moderator and a trainer, with many years of experience in journalism, decentralisation, government transparency and accountability, and citizen participation. At the trainings, he worked with journalists on decentralisation, transparency, citizen participation in decision-making, and how to use documents, data and local cases in their reporting. In his words, politicians and diplomats often use general phrases and slogans that hide important details. That is why journalists need to explain what these words mean for a real community and a real person.
The training had clear results. After the September training, journalists had already published more than seven articles about the EU. One participant, whose newsroom already writes a lot about EU integration, said he learned new approaches, especially how to find a local angle and explain complex processes through people’s real needs. At the second training, another participant did a long interview with Anatolii about myths and fears around decentralisation, and she prepared almost 20 questions.
Anatolii continues to help journalists prepare materials on EU integration, and he also comments on the topic in the media. He is the acting director of the Lviv Regional Branch of the Association of Ukrainian Cities. In the UK, he talks about EU integration with the Ukrainian community in the North of England and presents Razom, a Ukrainian-language radio programme on ALL FM 96.9 in Manchester.
“Europe will not do our homework for us,” — Anatolii Shalaiev.
In the media
- Academy of Ukrainian Press: announcement of the trainings, first training, second training and project results (all in Ukrainian).
- Detector Media: announcement of the first training (in Ukrainian).
- Volnovakha.City: an article from 12 October 2026, where journalist Anastasiia Kharina collected Anatolii’s explanations of myths and real challenges of EU accession. Summary on the Academy’s website (in Ukrainian). aup
- Vysokyi Zamok:
- a comment on EU integration as a shared space of values, published on 21 October 2026;
- a comment on housing compensation and the Council of Europe Development Bank funds, published on 16 October 2026;
- a comment on blocked treasury payments for communities (all in Ukrainian).