In parallel with the ongoing fighting on Ukrainian territory for 12 days, a war of data erupted between the unions of writers, writers and publishers of the countries located within the vicinity of the scene of events, the most important of which are Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic countries, in addition to the various European countries.

And the times of war seem an opportunity to study the relationship between politics and culture, power and knowledge, statesmen, the sword, men of thought and the pen. The educated people of their society should not be late for him.

This report reviews the data of writers’ unions from neighboring countries that have strong and ancient cultural ties, but in times of war, no voice is louder than the sound of battle, and the discourses of writers and their unions are hardly different from those of politicians.

Russia Writers Union

The Union of Russian Writers published a statement explaining the events between their country and Ukraine, which included its full support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, the federal security and the army, and contained an explicit denunciation of the statements of some intellectual and cultural figures against Russia, accusing them of shooting from behind at the Russian army.

In its statement, which was published on its website on February 28, the Union considered that the confrontation is not between Russia and Ukraine, but the real clash is between the Russians and NATO.

The union statement stressed that Russia's writers are united with the Russian army, which performs a professional work with high professionalism, which it described - that is, the statement - as preserving lives and remnants of honor and dignity in the neighboring country.

He pointed out that the Ukrainian leadership had destroyed for 8 years the customs, traditions and culture of the Ukrainian people, by promoting racism and Russia-phobia, which led to the emergence of a generation of young people denial and haters of the customs and a common past between the two peoples, and haters of Slavic unity and the desire to live in peace and friendship.

The statement announced that he had agreed - with full responsibility and understanding - to the decisions of the Head of State and Federal Security to save the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, disarm, and disarm the Nazis from the Ukrainian structure that brought the war to the doorsteps of the Russian state.

The Federation began its statement, signed by its president, Nikolai Ivanov, that the events that prevail in Ukraine do not leave anyone without concern, and it is timely to demand literary and artistic figures to express their positions regarding the current situation.

"We see society destroyed, some of them ran to the streets waving flags and banners, and others hid from them, while the third category of fakes proliferated on social sites," he added.

He urged the writers to publicly and clearly express their position on the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.

The Union of Russian Writers expressed its ability and desire to become a link between Moscow and Kiev, and between Russia and Ukraine, through the dialogue of cultures and creative heritage, in order to restore the ruptured relations between people with care and pride, according to the statement.

European data

The Union of Lithuanian Writers condemned the statement of the Russian Writers Union, calling for severing relations with them for justifying what it described as the "bloody invasion of Ukraine."

The Federation of European Publishers (FEP) invited the Federation of Ukrainian Publishers and Booksellers (UPBA) to be its guest of honor, as a form of solidarity, and expressed its condemnation of the "Russian invasion" of Ukraine which also invited its publishers to join the European Publishers Association.

"Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and the region, especially with our fellow authors, translators, publishers, booksellers and librarians," the European Union of Publishers wrote, calling for access to books as a democratic necessity even if they are a fragile bulwark against bombs, according to the statement.

The representatives of the Union expressed that they were "very lucky that Ukraine this year is one of the countries participating in the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL)", and added, "We believe that literature brings a message of peace."

The Council of European Writers - which says it represents about 160,000 professional writers and translators in the book and text sectors - also issued a statement describing the Russian attack on Ukraine as "a war against all democracies, our values, and our convictions in peace, freedom and human rights."

"The bloodshed must stop. The people of Ukraine and our fellow writers must be supported at this difficult time. What is happening in Ukraine is a threat to democracy throughout Europe. If the war in Ukraine does not stop, it will be a sign that the aggressor can He did what he wanted all over Eastern Europe."

The head of the Lithuanian Writers Union, Beirut Jonoskite Augustinyi, joined the position of European writers, saying, "The Lithuanian Writers Union stands by Ukraine and with our Ukrainian colleagues, our common community of writers and translators. We condemn the illegal and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukrainian lands. We support Ukraine and will do our best We do our best to help in difficult circumstances."

The head of the Union of Estonian Writers, Tate Alekseev, warned of the disturbing paradox of the Baltic states, saying, "February 24 is Estonian Independence Day. On the same day, Ukrainians began to defend their independence against the all-out attack of the aggressor," according to the magazine "Publishing Views". (Publishing Perspectives).

Suspension of cooperation with Russia

In the same vein, writers' organizations in the Baltic states - representing book authors, publishers and other professionals, from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - issued an open letter to book fairs in Bologna, London and Frankfurt, to show support for Ukraine by cutting contacts with Russian Federation institutions.

The letter was signed by the Lithuanian Institute of Culture, the House of Latvian Literature/House of International Writers and Translators, the Center for Estonian Literature, and the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian sections of the International Council on Books for Young People (IBBY).

The director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, Jürgen Boss, issued a statement saying, "The organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair strongly condemn the Russian attack on Ukraine by order of President Putin. Against the backdrop of the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine - a violation of international law - the Frankfurt Book Fair suspended cooperation with responsible Russian state institutions." ...the Frankfurt Book Fair affirms its full support for the Ukrainian Publishers' Associations."

The opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2021 (Reuters)

The Secretary-General of the International Publishers Association, Jose Borghino, also published a statement in response to the Russian war on Ukraine, asking for the support of the Federation of Ukrainian Publishers and Booksellers.

"We condemn this criminal Russian invasion in the strongest possible terms," ​​Borghino wrote. "The International Publishers Association was founded to support peace. Our first president, George Mason, declared - at the opening of the Council in 1896 - that the First International Publishers Conference... is one of many gatherings aimed at strengthening peaceful relations." Among nations, this position has not changed over the past 125 years."

Germany and Italy

The Board of Trustees of the German Peace Prize for the Book Trade expressed their anger at the "brutal Russian attack" on Ukraine, and appealed to the Russian people and its president to stop the "deliberate destruction of peace and freedom in Europe," as they put it.

The Council expressed its solidarity with the people of Ukraine, saying, "They are part of the international community that protects human dignity, democratic participation and equality for all. You have the right to peace."

For its part, the Italian Publishers Association expressed its solidarity with the Ukrainians, and said, “The war in Europe takes us back to years and historical events that we never wanted to relive,” and continued, “Today more than ever, we hope that the critical voice of intellectuals, writers, peacemen and the world will rise.” culture in every country, so that they can return Europe to the path of freedom and coexistence."