It is with great concern and horror that we watch a humanitarian crisis unfold before our eyes in Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion by the Russian army on February 24. Since its foundation in the 1980s, the ESHHS has striven to build a truly inclusive scholarly community that bridges East and West, and integrates different language areas and political camps. It pains us to see that these bridges are once again threatened by war.

In the face of violence, our scholarly work may at first glance seem to be of little help in halting events. But even though the ESHHS’s mission is primarily of a scientific and not a political nature, the board of the ESHHS will do everything it can to keep the connections between West and East alive and to foster peaceful intellectual exchange across geographical and linguistic borders.

We would like to express our deepest solidarity and sympathy to all our colleagues in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, but also to all those colleagues in Russia who do not agree with the decisions of their leaders but see no possibility of expressing their views without facing fierce repression. We would like to declare explicitly that all people, from all nationalities, will always be welcome in the ESHHS community for a peaceful exchange of knowledge.

The board of the ESHHS
Jannes Eshuis, President
Kim Hajek, Treasurer
Ivan Flis, Secretary
Martin Wieser, Communications Officer