Left forces from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus held a two-day antiwar conference near
Minsk on June 7-8. The conference was organized by participants of the
Internet-project “Prasvet” with a support of the webjournal Left.by
The aim of the conference is to consolidate the coordination of
internationalist Marxist left forces of three countries under
circumstances of military-nationalist hysteria and the outburst of
violence and repressions in Ukraine. The conference statement is open
for signatures. These can be added in the online comments feature of the statement.
We, the participants of the meeting of left and Marxist groups and
organizations from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, believe that the civil
war in Ukraine must cease – we see this as a primary task. The military
conflict that followed the victory of the neo-liberals and nationalists
in the ‘Euromaidan’ actions in Kiev has claimed hundreds of lives and
contributed to an unprecedented growth of chauvinism and xenophobia in
Ukrainian and Russian society.
The war allows the Ukrainian ruling class to consolidate society
around their political regime, distracting workers of the Western and
Eastern parts of the country from struggle for their social and
political rights. It has caused workers to clash with each other, and
this only serves the interests of the bourgeoisie. The Russian
government, the European Union and the United States government are
using the civil war in Ukraine for their respective interests, while the
people of the Donbass region suffering from war are just pawns of their
competition.
We express our solidarity to all participants of the Ukrainian
left-wing movements that are fighting against war, nationalism and
xenophobia. We consider it necessary to provide them all possible
information, political and material support. We oppose the pressure,
pogroms and reprisals by all participants of the conflict. We oppose the
massacres, torture and abductions of Ukrainian leftists, anti-fascists
and all Ukrainian citizens, regardless of their political views. We
oppose political persecutions in the Crimea region as well.
Stopping the war is the primary task for all democratic and left
movements, regardless of differences on the complex political issues.
Thus, we believe it is necessary to coordinate the efforts of all
opponents of the war in Ukraine. We need to form a massive and
influential antiwar movement.
• We urge the government of Ukraine to immediately halt its
"anti-terrorist operation" withdraw its troops from the territory of
Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and conclude a truce with the self-defense
forces of the Donetsk Peoples Republic and Luhansk Peoples Republic.
• We urge all the parties of the conflict to endorse a peace
agreement for complete cessation of hostilities, to release all
political prisoners and prisoners of war, and to disband armed groups.
• We urge the Ukrainian government to release from duty regular army
soldiers who were mobilized involuntarily. Their families are now
organizing protests in various regions of Ukraine.
• We demand from Russia, the EU and the U.S. to completely stop
interfering in the Ukrainian conflict and cease support to any one side.
• We demand an end to the chauvinist campaigns in Ukrainian and
Russian media. Their use of hate speech is one of the main instigators
of war.
• We demand the adoption of a new Constitution of Ukraine, elections
of the authorities of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and a right to
self-determination and self-government for Donbass and all the regions
of Ukraine.
• We believe that information exchanges and organizational
consolidation of leftist groups in the territories of the former Soviet
space is a necessary condition of forming an effective antiwar movement.
To this end, we are initiating joint development of "Red Cross"
initiatives in order to assist left activists and conscientious
objectors to military service, and we are establishing an information
network for left and Marxist groups in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
No comments:
Post a Comment