Dear Colleagues,
The European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) stands with our colleagues in Ukraine, their families, their staff and the Ukrainian population during these terrible events in their country. Our colleagues are living through desperate situations and we are impressed by their fortitude.
Last week, after careful deliberation and discussion within the ESC Board, the ESC temporarily suspended the memberships of the Russian Society of Cardiology and the Belorussian Society of Cardiologists. Individuals based in the Russian Federation or in Belarus are currently “excluded from active participation in any ESC event or activity”, including such roles as presenter or chairperson in ESC congresses. In support of this statement, EHRA, as an ESC association with voting rights at the ESC Board, has decided to implement the decision immediately thus affecting the upcoming EHRA 2022 congress.
We would like to make it clear that this extraordinary decision is not at all directed against the cardiologists, scientists and other EHRA members from the Russian Federation or Belarus but is meant to send a firm message to the Russian and Belarusian governments to cease the aggression towards Ukraine.
EHRA is a strong scientific association dedicated to improving the quality of life and reducing sudden cardiac death by limiting the impact of heart rhythm disturbances, led by a strong collaboration between physicians and allied professionals independent of countries or political systems. We continue to hope for the rapid resolution of the conflict, and peace to be restored, whereupon there would be no need to sustain these measures. We wish wholeheartedly to take up again the unified collaboration between EP scientists and physicians from any country within our Association.
Best Regards,
Prof. Christophe Leclercq
EHRA President 2020-2022
Our mission: To reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.