Ukrainian refugees sing Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' near Swiss summit

By Emma Farge and Clotaire Achi

LUCERNE, Switzerland (Reuters) – Dozens of Ukrainian refugees from choirs across Switzerland converged on Saturday in the city of Lucerne, near a world summit, to sing Beethoven's “Ode to Joy”, a choral work which, according to them, embodies their hopes for peace and freedom.

The singers gathered in a public square in Lucerne, near the mountaintop resort of Buergenstock, where dozens of world leaders were meeting to try to drum up support for Ukraine's peace proposals.

Among the singers were around 50 Ukrainian refugees, some wearing embroidered national costumes and flower crowns, from five different choirs from across Switzerland. The country has welcomed more than 65,000 Ukrainian refugees since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

The catchy lyrics of “Ode to Joy” are by German poet Friedrich Schiller and praise the values ​​of unity, hope and solidarity. “Ode to Joy” is also the anthem of the European Union to which Ukraine hopes to join.

“It's about freedom. I haven't learned German but I feel a lot of power, freedom and joy,” Anna Haidash, a refugee from Odessa, told Reuters. “When you see all these people, you feel that you are not alone in this situation and in this song too.”

The choir, accompanied by a small orchestra, was surrounded by crowds of tourists near Lucerne's famous wooden chapel bridge and pro-Ukrainian demonstrators, some of whom joined in afterwards singing the national anthem .

“They want to appeal to the world with the great music of Beethoven and reaffirm their wish for peace and freedom for their battered country on the way to Europe,” said event organizer Daniela Majer.

The tune has been used in the past as a protest anthem to celebrate resistance to oppression, for example during the Tiananmen Square protests in China and to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

(Writing by Emma Farge; editing by Frances Kerry)