The German PEN Center published a press release on solidarity with Ukraine on its website, but at the same time expressed concern over what they called erroneous calls for a cultural boycott of Russia, as was reported by the Suspilne.
The PEN-Germany also believes that not only Ukrainians are victims of the war waged by Vladimir Putin.
“All those who die in this criminal war of aggression are Putin’s victims: both Ukrainian civilians and Ukrainian soldiers who defend their country’s freedom from totalitarianism and arbitrariness. The often deceived and always poorly equipped Russian soldiers who die fighting for Putin’s power fantasies and paranoia are also victims of this violation of international law,” the statement said.
The organization also noted that the Center welcomes the economic pressure of Europe and the isolation of the Putin regime internationally. However, the organization is concerned that partial sanctions (such as shutting out only part of Russia’s banks from the SWIFT system) may send a false message that the EU stands in solidarity only as long as it does not cost them too dearly.
Apart from that, Ukraine’s urgent calls to boycott Russia not only economically but also culturally (for example, boycotting books by Russian authors, or no longer performing plays written by Russians) could, according to the authors of the statement, lead to the situation where madness has triumphed, reason and humanity have lost, because such measures will hit not only supporters of the regime, but also those who oppose Putin’s tyranny and the war in general.
The statement quoted PEN President Deniz Yücel as declaring: “The enemy is Putin, not Pushkin, Tolstoy or Akhmatova. PEN stands with all people in all countries who want to live in peace, freedom, and dignity.”
Today the Russian troops fired at the Mariupol maternity hospital. According to preliminary data, there are victims.