On February 24, 2023, on the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, theVienna Academic Ball invites you to a luxurious ballroom evening in the imperial ceremonial halls of the Hofburg in Vienna. This is reported on the event’s website .
Experience a unique evening full of glitz, glamor and tradition. Luxuriously decorated rooms, exciting melodies from waltz to jazz.
So, welcome to a fabulous lush ballroom evening. We look forward to celebrating with you! All the waltzes!
the announcement says.
Dmytro Zolotukhin, executive director of the Institute of Post-Information Society, writes on his Facebook page that the organizers did not pay attention to Ukrainians’ complaints about the inappropriateness of the event on that day.
The Democratic Austrians immediately erased all comments and blocked the possibility of commenting on their page
he writes .
Organizers’ page: https://www.facebook.com/akademikerballwien
Addendum: We remind you that this so-called “Ball of Academics” is organized by the far-right pro-Russian Freedom Party and will take place in the same Hofburg Congress Center as the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session.
The head of Ukraine’s mission to the OSCE, Yevhen Tsymbalyuk, expressed fears of a “huge propaganda show” on the part of Russia if Russian politicians “dance in Hofburg on the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine” in a commentary to Der Standard.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that the attendance of the Academics’ Ball by members of the Russian delegation to the OSCE PA, who were issued visas exclusively to participate in the Assembly’s winter session on February 23-24 in Vienna, would be a “blatant violation of international law.”
Schallenberg emphasized his warning to the Russian delegates not to use their stay in Vienna to attend the Academics’ Ball, which would be held at the same time. If delegates attend other events outside of the OSCE, it would be a “blatant violation of international law
the statement said.
