"We cannot passively watch the unprecedented aggression of the Russian leadership towards a neighboring country," explained the organizers of the decision.
A 198-year-old oak tree planted by the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev was excluded from the European Tree of the Year competition, wrote szerelekmagyarorszag.hu, referring to the New York Times article. "We cannot passively watch the unprecedented aggression of the Russian leadership towards a neighboring country," the organizers explained in their announcement.
They added: “This move is not aimed at ordinary Russian women and men. We highly value all active citizens of the Russian Federation who fight for free civil society and the protection of nature." With the move, they say, they wanted to contribute to "international efforts to isolate Russia" in order to end the war.
Not everyone agreed with the decision. The British organizer Rob McBride, for example, said that trees are staples in our common history, and it would be better if politics were left out of it. "Trees are apolitical," he said.
In his letter responding to the decision, the Russian organizer, Sergey Palchikov, wrote: they were surprised and sorry to learn that the tree, "which was planted by the great Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, and which was destroyed by a hurricane at the end of last year, and with your help, was excluded for the second time" also died".
The award was presented on Tuesday, and the European tree of the year this year was a 400-year-old Polish oak tree, which, according to the organizers, has become a symbol of Polish resistance to aggression and the warm welcome of refugees from Ukraine. The second place went to a 250-year-old Spanish oak, and the third place went to a 250-year-old cork oak from Portugal.
Source: mandiner.hu
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