We
cannot afford to turn our back on Ukraine. The new authoritarians in
Kyiv should know that there will be a high price to pay for their
repressive policies and for abandoning the European aspirations of
the people. It is not too late for us to change things for the better
and prevent Ukraine from becoming a dictatorship. Passivity in the
face of the authoritarian turn in Ukraine and the country’s
reintegration into a newly expanding Russian imperial sphere of
interests pose a threat to the European Union’s integrity. It is a
threat not just to the moral integrity of the Union but possibly to
its internal institutional integrity as well. Alongside the
diplomatic and economic measures taken by individual states and the
entire EU, independent democratic initiatives should make efforts to
defend victims of repression, support civil society and strengthen
independent media.
independent democratic initiatives should make efforts to defend victims of repression, support civil society and strengthen independent media.
The quality
of any democracy depends to a great extent on what its citizens know
about their country and the world. In Ukraine, the picture of the
world is shaped by the authorities, who control most of the mass
media, and Russian television channels faithful to President Putin.
For the sake of democracy, we must support and strengthen independent
and pluralistic media in Ukraine.
We must help
strengthen civil society, especially the new initiatives that have
arisen around the Maidan. No matter what the authorities say, the
people fighting to keep their country’s future open are not foreign
agents – the only ones deserving that name are those pursuing a
policy of mass repression to quash Ukraine’s hopes of becoming a
European democracy.
The
letter has already been signed by:
Andrew
Arato, Professor of Political and
Social Theory, New School for Social Research, United States
Shlomo
Avineri, Professor of Political
Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Lluís
Bassets, Deputy Director, El País,
Spain
Zygmunt
Bauman, Professor of Sociology,
University of Leeds, United Kingdom
Gianni
Bonvicini, Director of the
Institute of International Affairs,
Italy
José
Casanova, Professor of Sociology,
Georgetown University, United States
Bogusław
Chrabota, Editor-In-Chief of
Rzeczpospolita daily, Poland
Aleš
Debeljak, Poet and Cultural Critic,
Slovenia
Tibor
Dessewffy, President of the DEMOS
Hungary
Uffe
Ellemann-Jensen, former
Foreign Minister, Chairman of the Baltic Development Forum, Denmark
Ute
Frevert, Director of the Center for
the History of Emotions at the Max Planck Institute for Human
Development, Germany
Paolo
Flores d’Arcais, Philosopher and
Journalist, Editor of MicroMega magazine, Italy
Timothy
Garton Ash, Professor of European
Studies, Oxford University, United Kingdom
Carlos
Gaspar, Chairman of the Portuguese
Institute of International Relations (IPRI), Portugal
Carl
Gershman, President of the National
Endowment for Democracy, United States
André
Glucksmann, Philosopher and Writer,
France
Jeff
Goldfarb, Professor of Sociology, New
School for Social Research, United States
Charles
Grant, Director of the Centre for
European Reform, United Kingdom
Andrea
Graziosi, Professor of History,
University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Tomáš
Halík,
Professor of Sociology, Charles University Prague, Czech Republic
Pierre
Hassner, Director of the Fondation
nationale des sciences politiques, France
Agnieszka
Holland, Film Director and
Screenwriter, Poland
William
Hunt, Professor of History, St.
Lawrence University, United States
Suat
Kiniklioglu, Executive Director of the
Centre for Strategic Communication, Turkey
Ira
Katznelson, Professor of Political
Science and History, Columbia University, United States
János
Kis, Professor of Philosophy and
Political Science, Central European University, Hungary
Zenon
E. Kohut,
Professor of History, Peter Jacyk Centre for Ukrainian Research,
University of Alberta, Canada
David
Koranyi, Diplomat, Former
Undersecretary of State, Deputy Director Dinu Patriciu Eurasia
Center, Hungary-United States
Bernard
Kouchner, Former Foreign Minister,
France
Ivan
Krastev, Chairman, Centre for Liberal
Strategies, Bulgaria
Marcin
Król, Professor of History of Ideas,
Warsaw University, Poland
Mark
Leonard, Director of the European
Council on Foreign Relations, United Kingdom
Sonja
Licht, President of Belgrade Fund for
Political Excellence, Serbia
Tomasz
Lis, Editor-In-Chief of Newsweek
Polska weekly , Poland
Adam
Michnik, Editor-In-Chief of Gazeta
Wyborcza daily, Poland
Marie
Mendras, Directeur de recherche, the
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France
Dominique
Moïsi, Conseiller spécial de
Institut français de relations internationales
(l’IFRI), France
Alexander
J. Motyl, Professor of Political
Science, Rutgers University-Newark, United States
Piotr
Mucharski, Editor-In-Chief of Tygodnik
Powszechny weekly, Poland
Aryeh
Neier, President Emeritus of the Open
Society Foundations, United States
Kalypso
Nicolaïdis, Professor of
International Relations, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Ton
Nijhuis, Director of the Duitsland
Instituut, The Netherlands
Zbigniew
Nosowski, Editor-In-Chief of Więź
magazine, Poland
Claus
Offe, Professor of Political
Sociology, Hertie School of Governance, Germany
Andrzej
Olechowski, Former Foreign Minister,
Poland
Monika
Olejnik, Journalist, Poland
Andrés
Ortega, Author and Journalist, Former
Director of Policy Planning, Office of the Spanish Prime Minister,
Spain
Ana
Palacio, Former Foreign Minister,
Former Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank Group,
Spain
Šimon
Pánek, Director
of the People
In Need, Czech Republic
Anton
Pelinka, Professor of Political
Science, Central European University, Austria-Hungary
Víctor
Pérez-Díaz, President of Analistas
Socio-Políticos (ASP), Spain
Marc
F. Plattner, Editor, Journal of
Democracy, United States
Ruprecht
Polenz, Former Chairman of the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the German Bundestag, Germany
Adam
Pomorski, President of the Polish PEN
Club, Poland
László
Rajk jr., Architect, Designer and
Political Activist, Hungary
Joachim
Rogall, Executive Director of the
Robert Bosch Stiftung, Germany
Adam
Daniel Rotfeld , Former Foreign
Minister, Poland
Jacques
Rupnik, Directeur de recherche,
Sciences Po, France
Saskia
Sassen, Professor of Sociology,
Columbia University, United States
Gesine
Schwan, President of the
Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance, Germany
Richard
Sennett, Professor of Sociology New
York University, United States
Narcis
Serra, President of the Institut
Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals, Spain
Martin
M. Šimečka, Journalist, Editor of
Respekt weekly, Slovakia
Sławomir
Sierakowski, Director of the Institute
for Advanced Study, Poland
Aleksander
Smolar,
Chairman of the Board, Stefan Batory Foundation, Poland
Timothy
Snyder, Professor of History, Yale
University, United States
Andrzej
Stasiuk, Writer, Poland
Fritz
Stern,
Professor of History, Columbia University, United States
Frank
E. Sysyn, Director of the Peter Jacyk
Centre for Ukrainian Research, University of Alberta, Canada
Jerzy
Szacki, Professor of Sociology,
University of Warsaw, Poland
Monika
Sznajderman, Publisher, Publishing
House Czarne, Poland
Roman
Szporluk, Professor of Ukrainian
History, Harvard University, United States
Paweł
Świeboda, President of demosEUROPA –
Centre for European Strategy, Poland
Paul
Thibaud, Philosopher and Writer,
France
Nathalie
Tocci, Deputy Director of the
Institute of International Affairs,
Italy
Jordi
Vaquer, Director of the Open Society
Initiative for Europe, Spain
Tomas
Venclova, Poet and Writer, Yale
University, Lithuania-United States
António
Vitorino, former European
Commissioner, President of Notre Europe-Institut Jacques Delors,
Portugal-France
George
Weigel, Writer,
Ethics and Public Policy Center, United
States
Michel
Wieviorka, Directeur d’études,
École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, d’études, France
Adam
Zagajewski, Poet and Essayist,
University of Chicago, Poland
Jacek
Żakowski, Columnist, Polityka weekly , Poland
Slavoj
Žižek, Director of the Birkbeck
Institute for the Humanities, University of London, United Kingdom
