CERN Council takes further measures in response to the invasion of Ukraine

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Photo: CERN website.

In response to the military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, the 23 Member States of CERN today decided to:

• suspend the participation of CERN scientists in all scientific committees of institutions located in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, and vice versa; 
• suspend or, failing that, cancel all events jointly arranged between CERN and institutions located in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus;
• suspend the granting of contracts of association as associated members of the CERN personnel to any new individuals affiliated to home institutions in Russia and Belarus.

Regarding relations with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), with which CERN holds reciprocal Observer status, the CERN Council decided:

• to suspend the participation of CERN scientists in all JINR scientific committees, and vice versa;
• to suspend or, failing that, cancel all events jointly arranged between CERN and JINR;
• that CERN will not engage in new collaborations with JINR until further notice;
• that the Observer status of JINR at the Council is suspended and CERN will not exercise the rights resulting from its Observer status at JINR, until further notice.

The CERN Council also decided that, with a view to making a decision at its Session in June 2022 on the suspension of the international cooperation agreements and the related protocols and addenda, as well as any other agreements, including mutatis mutandis experiment memoranda of understanding, allowing for the participation of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, their national institutes and JINR in the CERN scientific programme, the Council will consider additional information and an action plan, and will further analyse the full consequences of such a decision.

The 23 Member States of CERN reiterate their condemnation, in the strongest terms, of the military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and strongly condemn the statements by those Russian institutes that have expressed support for the illegal invasion of Ukraine.

The CERN Council emphasised that the unprovoked and premeditated attack on Ukraine has caused widespread loss of life and a humanitarian crisis. Therefore, the Council stressed that its decisions are taken to express its solidarity with the Ukrainian people and its commitment to science for peace.

The core values of the Organization have always been premised upon scientific collaboration across borders as a driver for peace. Therefore, the aggression of one country by another runs against the values for which the Organization stands.

The measures agreed on today complement those adopted at the CERN Council’s Extraordinary Session held on 8 March, whereby it supported initiatives in favour of the Ukrainian scientific community, condemned the military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation with the involvement of Belarus, suspended the Observer status of the Russian Federation until further notice, and decided that CERN would not engage in new collaborations with the Russian Federation and its institutions until further notice.

This article was first published on 25 March by CERN.