openDemocracy Russia joins Europe's leading journals in condemning the ongoing violence and provocations in Ukraine.
We, as representatives of Europe's leading cultural and opinion journals gathered in Oslo at the 25th Eurozine meeting, strongly condemn the unjustified and unprovoked use of force to limit freedom of expression. Early Saturday morning, non-violent demonstrators in Kyiv, Ukraine were beaten by masked riot police.
The use of force rarely prevails. We affirm this simple truth today as the Ukrainian public stands threatened by violence. The lack of a clear and united response not only hurts the Ukrainian people but undermines democratic values and institutions. In an integrated world there should be no peripheries. Today, Ukraine is at the centre of Europe.
Regardless of our ideological standpoints or political involvement, we strongly support the value of public debate and dialogue.
Therefore we call on all democratic institutions to support the rights of protesters to assemble freely and express their opinion in the public sphere.
Signed in Oslo, at the 25th European Meeting of Cultural Journals on the subject “Making a Difference. Opinion, debate and activism in the public sphere”, Nov 30th, 2013.
Oliver Carroll, Magnus Nome, openDemocracy (United Kingdom)
Carl Henrik Fredriksson Eurozine (Sweden/Austria)
Samuel Abraham Kritika & Kontext (Slovakia)
Emica Antončić Dialogi (Slovenia)
Carlos Benguigui Sens Public (France)
Nadine Blanchard Eurozine (Germany/Austria)
George Blecher, Writer (USA)
Mika Buljevic Booksa Kulturtreger (Croatia)
Jill Cousins Europeana Foundation (UK/Netherlands)
Göran Dahlberg Glänta (Sweden)
Carole Dely Sens Public (France)
Osman Denitztekin Varlik (Turkey)
Slavenka Drakulic Writer (Sweden/Croatia)
Marc Duenas Transfer (Catalonia)
Walter Famler Wespennest(Austria)
Asle Finnset STREK magazine (Norway)
Rasmus Fleischer copyriot (Sweden)
Oksana Forostyna Krytyka (Ukraine)
Carl Forsberg Nätverkstan (Sweden)
Andrea Fredriksson-ZederbauerWespennest (Austria)
Dessy Gavrilova Time to Talk, Red House (Bulgaria)
Filippo Giannuzzi Fondazione Giuseppe Di Vagno (Italy)
Ansgar Gilster Osteuropa (Germany)
Kalle Hein Akadeemia (Estonia)
Christian Höller Springerin (Austria)
Eva Karadi Magyar Lettre Internationale (Hungary)
Martti-Tapio Kuuskoski Nuori Voima (Finland)
Christoph Laimer dérive (Austria)
Thomas Lemaigre La Revue nouvelle (Belgium)
Irena Maryniak Writer and translator (UK)
Trpimir Matasović Zarez (Croatia)
Estera Miočić Lettera internazionale (Italy)
Katerina Mishchenko Prostory (Ukraine)
Stefan Mörchen Mittelweg 36 (Germany)
Klaus NellenTransit/IWM (Austria)
Remi NilsenLe Monde diplomatique (Oslo) (Norway)
Janne Nygård Syn og Segn (Norway)
Renata Obadálková RozRazil (Czech Republic)
Marc-Olivier Padis Esprit (France)
Antonia Plessing Eurozine (Austria)
Wojciech Przybylski Res Publica Nowa (Poland)
Elke Rauth dérive (Austria)
Adam Reichardt New Eastern Europe (Poland)
Iwona Reichardt New Eastern Europe (Poland)
Almantas Samalavicius Kulturos barai (Lithuania)
Obrad Savic Belgrade Circle Journal (Serbia)
Thorsten Schilling Federal Agency for Civic Education (Germany)
Isabelle Schwarz (Netherlands)
Marek Seckar Host (Czech Republic)
Paul Stepan Eurozine (Austria)
János Széky Élet és Irodalom (Hungary)
Märt Väljataga Vikerkaar (Estonia)
Boris Vezjak Dialogi (Slovenia)
Judith Vidal-Hall Publisher (UK)
Gottfried Wagner (Austria)
Simon Worthington Mute (UK)
Gaby Zipfel Hamburger Institut für Sozialwissenschaften (Germany)
Mykola Riabchuk Krytyka (Ukraine)
Karolina Wigura Kultura Liberalna (Poland)
Zuzana Wienk Aliancia Fair-play (Slovakia)
Tatiana Zhurzhenko University of Vienna (Austria)