Russian books will remain, but will be checked – Frankfurt Book Fair, photos

The Frankfurt Book Fair organisers have spoken out about Russian participation in this year's event and Russian publishers' presentation of five stands.

Source: a letter by the Frankfurt Book Fair to Ukrainska Pravda

Details: Russian books will remain represented at the International Frankfurt Book Fair. They will only be removed if the content violates German law.

Quote: "If content prohibited by German law is exhibited, there are established procedures."

More details: Russia's national stand will not be represented at the event until the war against Ukraine ends.

"The Russian national stand was excluded from participation in the book fair after Russia's attack on Ukraine, which is a violation of international law. Until this war is over, we refuse to register the Russian national stand at the book fair," said representatives of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

The organising team also expressed their solidarity with the Ukrainian book industry and the Ukrainian people. As in previous years, the Fair and the German Federal Ministry of Culture are providing free space for Ukraine's representation and participation in the discussion programme.

Oleksandra Koval, director of the Ukrainian Book Institute, wrote on Facebook that Juergen Boos, the President and CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair, also emphasised his support for Ukrainians at the official opening of the national stand. However, despite the unwillingness to "see representatives of the Russian government", books by Russian publishers such as Exmo will remain at the event.

Soon, the Ukrainian Book Institute will start sending out appeals to foreign publishers calling for a boycott of Russian books.

"We already did this in 2022, right after the start of the full-scale invasion, and we will do it again to remind everyone who wants to cooperate with Russian publishers: every Russian author and every Russian publisher is guilty of Russia's war against Ukraine," Koval explained.

What happened on the eve of the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair:  

Representatives of Ukraine at the Book Fair noticed the stand of one of the Russian publishing houses, Exmo. For several years, it had been under sanctions in Ukraine, and the content of its books had anti-Ukrainian sentiments.

The fact that the publishing house was not added to the new sanctions list by the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine made it harder to argue that Russian representatives should not participate at the international level.

"If they had been included in the sanctions list, it would have been the strong reasoning in negotiations with the organisers of international fairs to prevent such publishing houses from participating," Koval said. 

Background:

• This year, five Russian publishing houses are represented at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
• The Frankfurt Book Fair is the largest book event in the world. It has become a platform for writers and publishers to promote international cooperation and global trends in book publishing and improve their own ideas.

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