"We are Esperantists, and Esperanto
is the language of peace, so we are fighting for peace; if war
destroys the world, we risk losing all the culture we have."
That is the message delivered today in Lignano Sabbiadoro
(Udine) by Nina Danylyuk, an Esperantist and professor of
general linguistics and interlinguistics at the Lesya Ukrainka
Volyn National University in Lutsk, Ukraine, who arrived in the
Friulian seaside town for the double world congress of
Esperantists (youths and teachers), which is underway until
August 12.
Nina managed to reach Friuli with two other people from
Ukraine: a small delegation from the conflict-affected country
where several hundred people are Esperanto association members.
"In the western part of the country, where our university is
located, the situation is not that dramatic at the moment," she
explains, "and our university has become a point of reference
and refuge for lecturers from other universities across the
country, in the eastern areas most affected by the war, which is
seeing an upsurge," she points out, "especially Russian attacks
on scientific and educational institutions. And that is why the
Ukrainian delegation made an effort to reach out to the ongoing
international congress in Lignano: to join the call for peace by
Esperanto speakers from 50 countries worldwide.
"We feel the burden of this war very much," the Lutsk
Esperantist adds, "we give hospitality to colleagues and
students from the eastern part. War is a terrible thing," she
underlines, "there are so many people who would like to live in
peace and instead are forced to fight and even die to defend
themselves."
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
