"Ukraine’s cause is ours"
Vice-chancellor Erik Renström has expressed Lund University's sympathies with Ukraine and support for the students and teachers affected on his blog.
Vice-chancellor Renström writes that a heavy task awaits us as free academics, so that people can continue to live in free and democratic societies. "A free Ukraine has been struck a hard blow, but it has not died. We are the ones who shall ensure that it lives on - us that work in universities all over the world, by highlighting the threat to democracy and freedom in every possible way and through all available channels," writes Erik Renström.
Sanimir Resic, Dean of the Faculty of Fine and Performing Arts:
I am not going to repeat what our Vice Chancellor, Erik Renström, has wisely said in his blog, but as the Dean of our faculty, I feel obliged to convey a few personal words.
As a human being, I am devastated about the brutal attack on Ukraine. As an historian, I am not surprised. I often think that we in our part of the world take peace, stability, prosperity and democracy for granted.
I agree with our Vice Chancellor that what we now see is a battle between democracy and authoritarianism, and it does concern us all. To me personally, and to millions of other people, the images from Ukraine brings tough reminders of the wars in former Yugoslavia not 30 years ago. It drags you back to a point you wished you, or anyone else, never had to relive. Pardon the clichés but this the time to pull together, to look beyond individual convenience and to ask ourselves; what can I do in the struggle for freedom and democracy?
To our current knowledge, no Lund University students or staff members are in Ukraine at the moment. An email has been sent out by External Relations with information on support to the 48 students who have received their qualifications in Ukraine and 90 students who have qualifications from Russia and Belarus.
Lund University stands in solidarity with the universities and the civilian population of Ukraine and supports the European University Association’s (EUA) statement: The European University Association’s (EUA) statement of solidarity with Ukraine