Foreign Affairs Ministry Receives Peace Envoys from Ukraine
Bratislava, February 5 (TASR) – An end to war, family, work and happiness – these are the wishes that Slovak pupils extended to their Ukrainian peers and their families on hand-made paper doves stuck to a map of Ukraine presented in Bratislava on Friday.
As part of the international ‘Children for Peace’ project, the Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Ministry received 30 children from Ukraine. The ‘envoys of peace’ brought with them wishes for their Slovak peers, too, attaching them to a map of Slovakia featuring the Slovak national colours.
Pupils from the primary school in the Bratislava neighbourhood known Ruzova Dolina represented Slovakia in the project. Anna Hrabkova, a teacher from the school, said that a selection has been made from fifth-, sixth- and seventh-Graders who wished to join the project. “At first, they were clueless as to how the project would turn out, but then they were filled with pride about representing Slovakia in this way,” said Hrabkova.
She noted that children from various countries are enrolled in their school, and almost each class has at least one pupil from Ukraine.
“It’s a message on the difficult situation in Ukraine that will then spread through the children to the whole of Europe,” said Helena Jacosova of the ministry’s cultural diplomacy department.
Slovakia is the fourth country to have been visited by the young ‘envoys’ from Ukraine. The initiative will conclude on International Children’s Day in Kiev on June 1, where all maps featuring wishes will be put together in a mosaic.
