Ukrainian borscht may be included in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Protection.
On Friday, July 1, UNESCO will decide the fate of Ukrainian borscht. Disputes about “whose borscht” have been going on between the Russian Federation and Ukraine for several years already.
As Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova said, tomorrow's decision will put an end to this issue and declare borscht “an intangible cultural heritage that needs urgent protection”.
She recalled that in March 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine submitted a nomination dossier prepared by experts for the Ukrainian element “Ukrainian Borscht Cooking Culture” for UNESCO's consideration.
Nomination was included in the queue for consideration in 2023, but the war launched by Russia against Ukraine, according to the Organization, created a threat to this cultural heritage site. Therefore, it was decided to consider the Ukrainian nomination for inclusion in another list – the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Protection.
“This is an unprecedented practice for UNESCO, when a nomination that is included in the queue of the Representative List will be considered in extra urgently and will be included in another List of the Organization,” said Emina Dzhaparova.
Recall that earlier the press secretary of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova substantiated the presence of “Nazism” in Ukraine by the fact that borscht is called a Ukrainian dish in cookbooks .
