From 11 to 13 November, Prof. Jurgis Pakerys from the Faculty of Philology visited Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University. He met with students studying Lithuanian, participated in a Lithuanian language seminar, gave a lecture and discussed cooperation opportunities with the university's heads and the Faculty of Foreign Languages. The visit was organised by Aliona Shyba, an associate professor in the Department of English at Chernivtsi University who speaks excellent Lithuanian, teaches the language, and is involved in the activities of the Baltic Studies Centre. Thanks to her efforts, many students have had the opportunity to visit and study in Lithuania, and the entire university community has become familiar with her traditional greeting, 'Labas!'.
'Over the past few days, I have heard many heartfelt and beautiful words about the support that Lithuania and its people have shown for Ukraine. Residents of Chernivtsi currently only have 1–2 hours of electricity per day, but life goes on. People are patiently trying to keep things normal: washing cars, sweeping courtyards, attending lectures and seminars. Grandmothers sell fruit and autumn flowers at intersections. Shops and cafés bring out generators and continue to work. In the evening, when it is completely dark, people walk their dogs by the light of torches. Everything seemed safe these days, but that was just a coincidence – air-raid alerts were issued more than once last week.' shares his impressions the Professor, who is currently returning from Ukraine.
Professor J. Pakerys and the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University encourage everyone to show their support for Ukraine in whatever way they can.