“We urge the WorldSkills International competition community to support our demand to exclude Russia from the member countries of the competition. Our relatives and friends, all citizens of Ukraine who used to live a normal life, are now forced to migrate, hide in the subway and shelters in order to stay alive. We cannot allow the aggressor to continue to pretend that nothing has happened. We must respond to the enemy from all sides: economic and political sanctions, exclusion from all international competitions and contests, and contempt on the part of the international community. WorldSkills is an integral part of the Ukrainian education and youth system. This is a large international family and the Russian occupier has no place in it!” – noted the Minister of Education and Science Serhii Shkarlet.
The day before, the team of the Ukrainian side addressed the representative office of the WorldSkills International competition, its members and partners. They put forward 5 key requirements that have already entered into force:
- Cancel WorldSkills Russia’s participation in WorldSkills Shanghai 2022
- Cancel WorldSkills Belarus’ participation in WorldSkills Shanghai 2022
- Relocate EuroSkills Competition 2023 away from St. Petersburg to another city in Europe
- Suspend WorldSkills Russia’s membership of WorldSkills International and consecutively any involvement with WorldSkills Competitions, projects, and activities
- Suspend WorldSkills Belarus’ membership of WorldSkills International and consecutively any involvement with WorldSkills Competitions, projects, and activities
The organization pronounced its position on March 1, 2022:
