MOSCOW, May 21 (RIA Novosti) – Poland’s Jagiellonian University has sanctioned Professor Anna Razny for criticizing US and EU policies toward Ukraine.
After it was discovered that Razny had signed an open letter in support of the Russian policy in Ukraine, she was forbidden to do research at the university, the polish professor explained in an interview with the Voice of Russia radio station.
"I work in one of the oldest universities. Yesterday the Faculty Council has applied a serious ‘punishment’ to me by secret ballot, that is not supported the request for an extension of my research work at the Jagiellonian University," Razny said.
“However, I hope that the rector of our university will cancel the decision of the council and thus show that the Jagiellonian University, one of the oldest universities in Poland, is the place where people with different points of view can successfully work and collaborate,” Razny added.
In a civilized world, people should have the right to defend different points of view, and even more so they should be able to voice them publicly and discuss them with impunity, the professor said.
Earlier, a group of Polish professors and public figures signed an open letter in support of Russia's policy in relation to the situation in Ukraine.
The open letter, to a great extent, criticizes the actions of the US and the European Union, including Poland, which led to a bloody coup at the so-called Euromaidan, according to the professor.
"Russia's only gave its response to this event. Russia today is the force, the people who act as an advocate of Christian values both on the world stage, and in their own country ... I am surprised that the Polish authorities and politicians are not able to defend their own, Polish interests in the EU and US-imposed political race in Ukraine,” Razny said.
Ukraine went through a regime change resembling a military coup on February 22. The country’s parliament ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, changed the constitution and scheduled early presidential elections for May 25.
Since March, anti-government protests have been spreading across southeastern regions of the country, where people refuse to recognize the interim government in Kiev and have called for federalization. Ukraine’s new interim authorities, backed by radical ultranationalist groups, launched a special operation to crack down on the protesters in mid-April, which has already led to dozens of deaths and injuries.
Moscow has called on Kiev to immediately stop the military operation in southeastern Ukraine, expressing hopes that the West will “actively influence” Kiev to start work on national reconciliation in the country. On Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Kiev’s military operation “has turned into a terrorizing campaign against the citizens of Ukraine on the grounds of their political beliefs.”
