Letter of the day: A beautiful romance in Geneva

Geneva, January 21

Halyna Horbenko (Ukrainian, 28 years old) and Ivan Glushenkov (Russian, 25 years old), between Basel, Zurich, Schaffhausen and Geneva, an improbable romance links the two lovers.

Wounded in their souls by the Russo-Ukrainian war in which their two families are involved, they believe in the power of love and quickly hope that peace will return between the two brother peoples! They met for the first time on October 15, 2023, in Zurich, during the “Oscar for influencers”. The closing evening, filmed live, is projected on a giant screen.

Halyna was dancing by herself. Did she suspect that a camera was projecting her slightest movements? Invited by a magazine, she didn’t know anyone in this huge crowd. She was playing with the camera. She was all alone. From afar, Ivan observed him. He saw her move. What he loved in particular, his positivity, he will tell us. As the young girl was getting ready to return, Ivan comes towards her! He kept her on the floor dancing with her.

The communication took place in English but Ivan quickly recognized through Halyna’s accent that she was Ukrainian. Ukrainians understand Russian, however, the opposite is not always obvious.

The two young people know it. The political situation between their two countries is not in their favor. Young people are dying on both sides. Halyna has her uncle engaged in the war. She is yet to break the news of her romance to her family. Ivan is shocked to see so many dead. He arrived in Switzerland a year before the Russo-Ukrainian crisis.

“I was not interested in politics but for several months I have been following the news regularly.” For him, this war is not a war between foreigners. They are Slavs, people of the same ethnic origin, who are killing each other, he regrets. Who benefits from seeing Slavs killing each other like this, he says? The two lovers are convinced that peace cannot be made with weapons. They have given themselves the credo of continuing to love each other and to dance… while waiting for hatred to go away, for hearts to calm down and for calm settles in for a long time!

El Hadji Gorgui Wade Ndoye, continentpremier.com

“The Tribune of Opinions”

With the Tribune of Opinions, find analyzes, editorials, readers’ letters, expert opinions… So much insight to form your own opinion every Monday.

Other newsletters

Log in

Did you find an error? Please report it to us.

0 comments