BLITZ INTERVIEW with Eugene Czolij - Ukraine's Honorary Consul in Montreal: "Ukraine wants peace - and Russia wants Ukraine."

"It is time to act not just announce" because "the Kremlin has a clear intent to create a neo-Soviet Union", says the high-level lawyer whose heart beats for Ukraine's independence.

Eugene Czolij addressing the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (2021)

Where are you from? And where are you now? Doing what?

I was born and live in Montreal, Canada.

I was called to the Quebec Bar in 1982 and am currently a partner at the law firm Lapointe Rosenstein Marchand Melançon. My legal practice includes corporate and commercial litigation, as well as insolvency and financial restructuring law, and I am listed annually, since 2012, by The Best Lawyers in Canada.

On a voluntary basis, I have been the Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Montreal since 2020 and a member of several Boards of Directors of NGOs: The Ukrainian World Congress (since 1993), Ukrainian Canadian Congress (since 1994), Council of Ukrainian Credit Unions of Canada (since 2006), Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of Canada (Chairman of the Board since 2019), and the NGO “Ukraine-2050” (President since 2019).

Eugene Czolij with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (2024); with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (2024); with Polish President Andrzej Duda (2021); with His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and His Holiness Pope Francis (2018)

I come from a family where everyone was very involved with Ukraine-related issues:

My grandfather was a Ukrainian Catholic priest, who founded the Ukrainian school in Montreal; he was then the school principal and my grandmother a teacher for numerous years. My father gave up his profession as a very successful engineer to become the General Manager of the Ukrainian credit union in Montreal; he was also the éminence grise in our Ukrainian community. My mother was an opera singer, who performed at various Ukrainian events, composed beautiful Ukrainian music and conducted several Ukrainian choirs.

My brother, also a Ukrainian Catholic priest, and I grew up in a family where strong commitment to promote the Ukrainian cause and extensive involvement in Ukrainian community life was the norm. Such upbringing, mostly by example, and strong encouragement by my parents got me involved with Ukraine and Ukrainian community life, for which I am very grateful to my parents and grandparents.

What kind of studies and work did you do previously? Where?

I graduated from the University of Montreal in 1981 with a Licentiate in Law (now known as а Bachelor of Laws). I have also received two Honorary Doctorates from Lviv Polytechnic National University (2016) and National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (2019).

As a volunteer (while working full-time in major Quebec law firms), I was:

For 10 years, Ukrainian World Congress President. During my second five-year term as President, I made 147 international trips to 51 countries, where I had 1,500 bilateral meetings with church and high-level officials of state governments and international organizations (such as the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, NATO and the EU), gave 160 public speeches at official events, and had 200 community meetings).

For 6 years, from 1988 to 2004, I was the President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

Eugene Czolij receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (2019)

How has the war in Ukraine changed your life? You personally?

Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine became the central point of my voluntary work, namely as Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Montreal and the NGO “Ukraine-2050” President. Undoubtedly, the most challenging part of that work was to comfort those whose loved ones were killed during Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine.

What has surprised you most about Ukrainians these past couple of years? Good or bad?

The heroism, physical and psychological strength, and incredible resilience of the Ukrainian people, while confronted by unimaginable horrors, keeps amazing me.

What are your future plans?

I wish to contribute, in a meaningful way, to Ukraine’s reconstruction from the devastation of Russia’s genocidal war.

How do you see the war ending and Ukraine returning to a ‘normal life’?

Ultimately, a victory for Ukraine, supported by Western democracies, as this is the only thing that will ensure real and long-lasting peace, security and stability in the world. Recently, I have often spoken about the need for the Western powers to confiscate frozen Russian assets, and support Ukraine with this money - no less than $300 billion.

Remarks by Eugene Czolij at the Montreal International Security Summit on October 16, 2025, warning in no uncertain terms about Russia’s expansionist plans that, in his words, “go substantively beyond Ukraine.”

(from Eugene’s remarks there:)

“We have two options: the first option is to appease another belligerent dictator like Hitler - currently in the Kremlin - with a neo-Munich agreement that will sacrifice some Ukrainian territories and, even worse, some Ukrainian people - while emboldening Russia to want much more and eventually triggering another world war.

The other option is to help Ukraine not only demonstrate that Russia is not a superpower - which Ukraine has already done - but to ensure that Ukraine actually succeeds - with the active help of NATO countries - and forces Russia into a real and long-lasting peace agreement with appropriate security guarantees, including Ukraine’s membership of NATO.”

“Ukraine wants peace - and Russia wants Ukraine.”

Tell us one thing you don’t think people abroad know about Ukraine – but they really should?

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are not only protecting the Ukrainian people and Ukraine’s territorial integrity. They are protecting the international community from the Third World War, as Russia will surely go beyond Ukraine and provoke such a war if the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not stop the Kremlin now.