Beer is all about fraternity, unity and respecting others. EBCU is non-political, yet the recent events taking place in Ukraine urge us to take a stand. Here is our statement.
The European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU), along with the Community of International Beer Judges adopted the following resolution on March 1st, 2022:
1) EBCU strongly condemn the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The entire world is facing great challenges that can only be overcome with international cooperation. Our community experiences at every beer competition how people from all countries can successfully work together in harmony, respect and shared enthusiasm. The invasion of Ukraine tramples all these values underfoot.
2) We will not participate in any beer festival, tastings or competitions in Russia or Belarus until further notice.
3) We call on all international beer competitions to remove Russian beers and beers from Belarus from the competition and not to evaluate them. We will welcome back those brewers who are working for peace and an end to aggression, as soon as the leadership of their country has stopped behaving in such an inhuman manner.
4) We call on all players from the beer world to limit cooperation with Russian companies and suppliers to the absolute minimum and to end it in the medium term.
5) We are in solidarity with all people from the beer world in Russia and Belarus who are working for peace and ending aggression.
With this resolution we want to show our solidarity with Ukraine on the one hand, but on the other hand we want to remind from our own experience that people from all countries of the world can work together in harmony.
Full press release here.
