A military conflict began in the Ukraine on 24th February 2022 and international community has imposed a number of economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and several countries have helped the Ukraine, not only through the supply of humanitarian material but also military equipment. Through the issue of postage stamps demonstrating our solidarity with the Ukraine, as early as 2022 the “philatelic front” was joined, independently of each other, by several European countries such as Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Poland, Austria and Slovakia.  

     PostEurop, the association of European public postal operators, also decided to respond to the situation in Ukraine and selected “PEACE – the Highest Value of Humanity” as the theme for the EUROPA 2023 stamps. The PostEurope work group, The Stamps and Philately Working Group, established the conditions for a design competition for the series. 28 postal operators from more than 60 member countries participated. The competing entries were prepared by stamp artists from the respective countries. The winners were selected through an anonymous poll with the participation of all 44 postal operators, who rated the three best designs on a scale of 1 – 3.   

     The highest scoring design was submitted by Post Luxembourg. It depicts a motif of interwoven hearts inspired by a prehistoric Celtic knot ornament. According to the authors, it embodies “the need for a new symbol of peace to unite all nations”. The Ukrposhta came in second and the entry from Slovak Post was third. It became the motif of the FDC surcharge and collection sheet. 

Slovak Post – POFIS a PM (Postal Philatelic Service and the Postal Museum)