A meeting of EFPA’s General Assembly took place today, June 1, 2022, at which the Member Associations in General Assembly took the unanimous decision to expel the Russian Psychological Society from EFPA.

The expulsion follows a request from the National Psychological Association of Ukraine for the Russian Psychological Society to be excluded from EFPA. Serious questions were raised about the continued membership of the Russian member association given the ethical principles in the EFPA meta code of respecting the fundamental rights, dignity and worth of all people, responsibilities to society, and maintaining the integrity that is the basis of psychology, when the human rights aspects of the Russian war against Ukraine remained unacknowledged in their communications with EFPA.

The EFPA Member Association delegates to the General Assembly voted unanimously to expel the Russian Psychological Society from EFPA membership. This has not been an easy decision for some Member Associations to make. Many have heard strong views expressed both for following the line of many international bodies in Europe and beyond in ceasing cooperation with Russian organizations; and for cooperation among psychologists to transcend the geopolitical context, understanding that many fellow psychologists in Russia may themselves be in opposition to the war, with the ongoing conflict and human suffering causing them great distress.

EFPA General Assembly has taken this decision in the context of the war and growing humanitarian crisis, reflecting as a priority standing in solidarity with colleagues in Ukraine and the Ukrainian people as a whole who are suffering. It is regrettable that this decision to expel the Russian Psychological Society from EFPA has necessarily had to be the outcome of a productive membership of EFPA up to this point for the Russian association.

This does not reflect adversely on the many individual Russian psychologists, and no doubt many individual scientific and collegial co-operations will endure. We trust that in the future different times will be ahead of us all, and circumstances will be such that once again collaboration among psychologists flourishes across all of Europe.