Frankfurt Book Fair’s response to the open letter from the Baltic cultural institutions

In response to call from the Baltic cultural organizations representing and uniting book creators, publishers and other professionals to end all cooperation with institutions of the Russian Federation, the Frankfurt Book Fair announced its official position by e-mail on the late evening of 27 February.

The response, signed by Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, states:

“The organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair strongly condemn Russia’s attack on Ukraine ordered by President Putin. Against the backdrop of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, a violation of international law, the Frankfurt Book Fair is suspending cooperation with the Russian state institutions in charge of organizing the Russian collective stand at Frankfurter Buchmesse. The Frankfurt Book Fair assures the Ukrainian publishers’ associations of its full support.”

Frankfurt Book Fair s response to the open letter from the Baltic cultural institutions

In the joint Baltic appeal, initiated by the Lithuanian Culture Institute, book fair organizers are asked to sever all contacts with the institutions of the Russian Federation and remove Russian Federation national stands from the book fairs in Frankfurt, London, and Bologna.

The appeal has been signed by the Lithuanian Culture Institute, the Latvian Literature / the International Writers and Translators house, the Estonian Literature Centre, Publishers Associations and Writers Unions in all three counties, the Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian sections of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), and the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre.