President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the aggressor country Russia was excluded from the UNESCO Executive Board for the first time in history.
What is known about the exclusion of Russia from the UNESCO Executive Committee
Zelenskyy noted that the era of Russian influence on world culture is over.
For the first time in history, Russia was excluded from the Executive Council of UNESCO. The era of Russian influence is over, and rightly so: Russian terrorists have no place at the head of significant international organizations. Russia's international role will only weaken, the president noted.
Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to UNESCO to exclude the Russian Federation from the Executive Council. The Verkhovna Rada requested this twice – in May 2022 and July 2023 – noting that the Russian occupiers were destroying cultural heritage sites in Ukraine.
What is known about the work of the UNESCO Executive Board
A specialized institution of the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture, which includes sights on the World Heritage list.
The Executive Board is UNESCO's governing body between sessions of the General Conference. It prepares the work of the conference, oversees the implementation of specific decisions, and determines the methods and forms of the organization's practical activities.
The Council consists of representatives of 51 UNESCO member countries elected at the General Conference, taking regional and cultural representation into account.
The UN began to purge itself of Russia's pernicious influence. For the first time in history, the organization did not elect Russia to the International Court of Justice of the United Nations.
Also, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, stated that Russia must be excluded from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as it is killing it from within.
