In light of the unprovoked and unacceptable military aggression towards Ukraine by the Russian Federation, UnILiON – the informal network of Brussels-based liaison offices – would like to express solidarity with the Ukrainian academic and research community as well as with the Ukrainian people at large. In line with the recent statements (1 and 2) issued by the European University Association, we condemn the aggression and ask for a swift end of this crisis.
Following the statement released by the Russian Union of Rectors (RUR), UnILiON decided to suspend the membership of its Russian member. The RUR statement of support for the invasion of Ukraine is incompatible with the values our network is built upon. Therefore we suspend institutional cooperation. This suspension does not prevent us from keeping informal contacts with individual staff members, students or researchers from the Russian academic and research community, many of whom bravely oppose the Russian military aggression against Ukraine.
The UnILiON members are committed to help share with their home institutions information on European and national measures that are and will be developed in due time to help Ukrainian researchers. The sharing of best practices will be facilitated, hoping thereby to contribute to a more effective and coordinated action of support (assistance to refugees, hosting of students and researchers at risk, sending of goods, etc.). UnILiON also express its full support to the research communities in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries, assisting many refugees having crossed borders recently. These support actions can serve as an example to the academic and research communities in other European countries.