Kyiv, July 10, 2015. “The European Union has to face Putin’s important and organized propaganda. In this short cold war, we should avoid the methods of counter-propaganda and present the facts,” stated Olivier Védrine, French expert and TV host of “UA Tea Time.”
The 25-minute-long English-speaking program will be broadcasted on a weekly basis on ‘First Ukraine’ (http://firstua.com/en/), which is the international satellite TV Channel launched by the National Television Company of Ukraine on September 1, 2012 and available in over 30 countries worldwide.
“In our program, we will invite guests to discuss the subjects in relation with Ukraine, Europe, the EU, Russia and international relations, but also economy, politics, culture, etc,” explained Védrine. “In order to combat Putin’s propaganda and to defend our values, we have to communicate facts and only facts”.
Védrine stated that in order to convince Western European audiences, one must ask simple questions such as, “Why a Russian politician or businessman lives in the European Union, for example on the Côte d’Azur, or why rich Russians send their children to EU or US universities.”
Védrine explained that in his point of view, irony and humor are necessary to deconstruct Putin’s propaganda.
Together with Serhiy Velichanskiy, who is a co-anchor of the new analytical talk show, Védrine will invite guests to discuss reforms, education, press freedoms, finance, militants in the east, the ATO, the fight against corruption and other subjects. “We will depart from the model of passive response towards Russian propaganda and create proactive and optimistic messages. Our auditors need real information. That’s why we will show the real Ukraine to the rest of the world,” Védrine concluded.
