On 1 March 2022, Academia Europaea (AE), the Academy of Europe, has published (LINK) a statement on the Russian invasion of the Ukraine. See the text below. Klaus F. Zimmermann is a member of AE and has served as Section Chair “Economics, Business and Management Sciences”, 2014 – 2021.
The Academia Europaea expresses solidarity with partners in Ukraine – consequences for science and the humanities
A statement of the Board of Trustees of the Academia Europaea
“The Academia Europaea strongly supports the European Union member states, Switzerland, The United Kingdom and the EEA countries’ action against Russia’s belligerent attack on Ukraine, which is in violation of international law. We are following the positions of our partner Academies across Europe.
We are honoured to express our solidarity with all Ukrainian scholars of all disciplines, including our own members and non-members.
The Academia Europaea regards the Russian invasion as an attack on the fundamental values of freedom, democracy and self-determination, which in turn provide the basis for academic freedom and opportunities for academic cooperation.
The Academia Europaea members, are all distinguished international scholars. They have been elected because of their international status in the Sciences, the Humanities and the Social and Societal Sciences, as judged by their European colleagues and peers across our continent. We are proud to include members from the Ukraine and from the Russian Federation on equal terms. Science and scholarship thrive on open dialogue and collaboration. We are therefore especially saddened by this unprovoked action by the Russian government against the Ukraine, which seeks to destroy what we stand for – open dialogue and collaboration of equals. As an organisation, we have always maintained diverse and productive academic collaborations with all our members, from all European countries and we certainly will seek to continue this.
The Academia Europaea is aware of the consequences of this military action and at the same time deeply regrets the impact it will have on freedoms, including academic freedoms. We live in a multidimensional world, and only by means of close international academic cooperation can the crises facing humanity, such as climate change, species extinction or infectious diseases, be overcome. For this reason, our solidarity also goes out to our long- standing Russian members who are themselves now the innocent victims of the Russian regime’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Academia Europaea has noted the statements issued by many other European National Academies and Scientific Organisations and we will continue to respond in concert with them. We are especially pleased to see and wish to thank unreservedly, those organisations with the capabilities, that are putting into place schemes to provide safe havens and funds for Ukrainian researchers. We applaud your efforts.
Statement authorised for publication on 1 March 2022 by the Board of Trustees of the Academia Europaea.
NOTE: The Academia Europaea has a membership of 4800 individual scholars who are spread across all countries of the continent of Europe and beyond.“
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