The Northern European geographical societies condemn Russia’s military action in Ukraine and call to Stop the War.

We express our support and empathy to Ukrainians, the Ukrainian university students and staff, many of whom have been forced to evacuate. This conflict has led to massive human suffering, extensive civil casualties, lifelong trauma, and irreversible losses to Ukrainian natural and urban landscapes and heritage.

We are using our platform of national geographical societies for dialogue and collaboration and to express our solidarity with the Ukrainian people. We are deeply concerned about the stability and security in Europe brought by the Russian invasion to Ukraine, especially in the Baltic Sea region. The unease, fear and anxiety are spreading globally, also among children to whom we cannot cut away from the war news. Fear of accidentally induced nuclear fallouts and concerns of further escalation makes the war everyone’s problem. People around the world are financially impacted by the war, with the most vulnerable and directly affected people being pushed to poverty and losing faith in the future.

We are in solidarity with the thousands of Russian scientists, activists, and journalists calling out Putin and the Russian government to stop this war. We join them to call to end the Russian invasion to Ukraine. We need cooperation to mitigate the climate crisis, reduce inequalities and rebuild trust.

The Northern European geographical societies are committed to advancing equal participation and collaboration between researchers from all countries to morally support the elimination of war globally. Geography ought to be used as an instrument of living in peace, in a humane world guided by dialogue, mutual respect for people and nations, and international law.

We demand to Stop the War.

Signatories

The Geographical Society of Finland
The Norwegian Geographical Society
The Royal Danish Geographical Society
The Estonian Geographical Society
The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography
The Lithuanian Geographical Society
The Latvian Geographical Society

The statement in PDF form
 

UPDATES
6.4.2022: The signatory of Latvian Geographical Society was added to the statement.
17.3.2022: The signatory of Lithuanian Geographical Society was added to the statement.