Iceland
We will continue to demand action.
It is a fantasy to think that this is “politics” and that there is some reason to exclude condemnation of Russia’s actions from the agenda of European Go.
We are calling for EGF and our European Go community to condemn the war on Ukraine in the strongest terms and cancel all events planned in Russia.
This is beyond and above politics. The horrible crime being committed against the people of Ukraine as we speak should be enough to persuade any representative of the European Go community of this.
Condemnation of war has a long history in sports. The IOC has condemned this war, placing the blame solely on Russia and Belarus, it has also called on all events planned in Russia and Belarus by sport federations to be cancelled. The IOC has also called for the Russian and Belarusian flags not to be displayed and the anthems not to be played, something we need to consider as well. If the EGF cannot heed our calls, I hope it can heed this call by the IOC. https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-eb-urges-all-ifs-to-relocate-or-cancel-their-sports-events-currently-planned-in-russia-or-belarus
This issue can only become more urgent. It is prudent to act immediately to leave no doubt to where we stand on these matters. There can be no ambivalence about condemning this crime. A European Go Federation cannot be ambivalent about European values and sports federations cannot be ambivalent about wars of aggression.
Hallbjörn Þór Guðmundsson
President
Icelandic Go Association
Ireland
the Irish Go Association position is that EGF should focus on:
-
supporting Ukrainian go community as much as possible in whatever possible way
-
not holding any tournament in Russia for the time being or any kind of event involving Russian government support/funding.
Asking RGA to make any kind of official statement, or expelling Russian players/staff from EGF activity is unfair and out of the scope of our association.
Lituania
The Lithuanian Go Association fully supports the request of the Ukrainian Go Federation.
Let’s do it as soon as possible.
Serbia
With great regret and sorrow, we are following the events in Ukraine. I personally, and everyone else in the Serbian Go Federation and community are against any kind of violence, especially against this war.
We find it purposefully to act in support and help of our friends in the Ukraine Go Federation and the whole Ukrainian Go community. We should put our effort as an EGF, and as individuals to see if we can help Go players in Ukraine.
Anything that is related to governing the states (or politics, in general) should stay outside of our conversation.
Best regards,
Mihajlo Andjelic
president of Serbian Go Federation
(Greece)
Despite the fact that Greece is merely an observer, our community would like to express its position on the issue. We wholeheartedly condemn the ongoing war, yet we fully support the stance adopted by the Cypriot and Serbian Go Associations.
Kind regards,
Konstantinos Michailidis
President of the Greek Go Association