To all peace loving people in Europe and the world – Time to join hands for peace in Ukraine

The time has now come to join hands for peace in Ukraine. The passivity which has characterised so many peace movements and progressive political parties must come to an end. The present escalation of hostilities in Eastern Ukraine and the largest humanitarian catastrophe in Europe must be addressed by both civil society and governments.

All efforts must taken to create direct contact with the civil societies across frontlines and between East and West. Equal pressure must be put on all actors to fulfill the Minsk II agreement. Lets rebuild a hope for a better future by not giving an inch more to war mongers who promote animosity, militarisation and armament instead of building trust.

The information blockade silencing the war and its consequences and the distortion of the facts to legitimise further passivity must be dissolved by a multitude of peace voices. First hand information about the conditions on both side of the frontline and especially the living conditions of the civilian population must be brought to the public.

We are a movement from Sweden called Activists for peace (In Swedish: Aktivister för fred). We are motived by the lack of action from existing organisations and are now initiating a campaign in Sweden. We also call for All-European action. Our campaign has several parts:

1. Initiate an international petition against the way the European parliament is used to spread desinformation about the ongoing escalation of the war. This was an escalation caused by a Ukrainian military offensive taking place simultanously as an illegal economic blockade enforced by Ukrainian ultranationalists against Donbass both in contradiction with the Minsk II agreeement. Desinformation and attacks on the Minsk II agreement are supported by a great majority of the MEPs elected for responsible for Ukrainian issues.
2. Criticize and act against how the EU-project East Stratcom becomes a threat to all peace, environmental and EU-critical voices in Europe.
3. Support help to civilian victims of the war in Donbass. So far, 20 000 Euros have since November 2014 been collected in Sweden for humanitarian help to both sides of the contact line. We hope to raise this amount.
4. Inform about the systematic violations of human rights in Ukraine and take part in international actions in solidarity with the parents of the victims of the Odessa massacre on May, 2 2014.
5. Denounce the way Swedish Human rights NGOs completly ignore the systematic violations of human rights in Ukraine and instead even started an international campaign to defame a documentary about fascist violence and called it Russian propaganda. Together with key left wing activists these NGOs have been successful in, in Sweden, maintaining lack of solidarity with the people in Eastern Ukraine.
6. Denounce the way the Swedish Institute for International Affairs has funded their researchers report which attack peace organisation, environmentalists and others as being ”interlocuotors” of Russian propaganda. Also, denounce the way this report has been uncritically disseminated internationally and used to brand opposition to the Swedish Ukrainian policy as agents of a foreign power.
7. Inform about the situation in Donbass and Swedish Ukrainian policy including foreign minister Margot Wallström’s visit to Sergey Lavrov in Moscow February, 21 2017.

We hope you want to support one or many of these efforts.

We also hope you will find the background material useful.

Kind regards from Activists for peace

Tuesday March, 7 2017

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Links to material

1. Call for action – Sign the international petition: Say yes to peace in Ukraine! – Stop European Parliament from using disinformation and attacking Minsk II agreement.
   Read more about the petition by following this link to our blogpost: Call for action, sign our Petition: Say yes to peace in Ukraine! – Stop European Parliament from using disinformation and attacking Minsk II agreement.
   Follow this link to find and sign the international petition.
2. The European Parliament and Sweden must stop saying No to Peace.
   An article with facts and arguments for the international petition.
3. Debate in the European parliament by members and substitutes, Ukrainian delegation, February, 14 2017.
   The speeches are published at each MEP side on the Delegation’s web page:
   In one document you find them here (PDF-format).
4. Report from the activities of the MEP Ukrainian delegation 2014 –2016 (PDF-format).
5. Björk, Drake, Gahrton, Wechselmann: Stop the humanitarian crisis in Eastern Ukraine. 
Article published in Svenska Dagbladet Debatt, February, 19 2017 in relation to the launch of Activists for peace’s campaign.
   Original text in Swedish: Svenska Dagbladet Debatt and Aktivister för fred. The text is also available in Russian (PDF-format) and in English (PDF-format)
6. Our initial Swedish campaign material for fundraising for civilian victims in Donbass/Eastern Ukraine (In Swedish).
   This is support for the Swedish humanitarian aid organisation Sankt Georgsbandet (In English: Ribbon of Saint George).
   Since the start in November 2014, Sankt Georgsbandet has distributed more than 20 000 Euros. The distribution has been mainly to LPR, but distribution have also taken place in DPR and in Slavyansk (controlled by the Ukrainian government).
7. NGOs and research trying to silence peace voices in Sweden.
   The organised way by which Swedish peace voices opposing Sweden’s Ukrainian policy have been silenced or demonised since 2014.
8. a) The state-funded NGO ABF stopped an exhibition about Odessa and Donbass.
   b) The Swedish left made itself passive.
   c) State funded Swedish NGOs turn a blind eye and succumb to active measures.
   Information about how Swedish NGOs and leftists have acted against making the systematic violations against Human rights in Ukraine known to the public and instead acted against making them more widely known.
   8 a-c are parts of NGOs and research trying to silence peace voices in Sweden.
9. The Swedish Institute for International Affairs research scandal.
   The controversial Swedish Institute for International Affairs researchers’ article which has been uncritically disseminated internationally and used to, in main stream media, brand opposition to Sweden’s Ukrainian policy as agents of a foreign power.
   9 is part of NGOs and research trying to silence peace voices in Sweden.
10. Call for action: Save Donbass people – Humanitarian agenda first, political agenda second.
11. Donbass and Swedish Ukrainian policy.

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