Speech at the Fridays for Future anti-war demo on March 3, 2022: ---- On February
24, the long-running conflict between Russia, Ukraine and the West escalated whenPutin invaded Ukraine three days after recognizing the self-proclaimed Donetskand Luhansk People's Republics. At the present time, Russian forces have seizedcontrol of several border towns, captured the city of Kherson and surrounded thecapital, Kyiv. Other large cities are constantly the target of artillery shellingand bombing. As a result, there are countless deaths on the Ukrainian side and sofar at least four million people have fled. Ukraine is trying to withstandmilitary superiority by calling on the population to resist. Instructions formaking incendiary devices are circulated in the media and Ukrainians are equippedwith assault rifles to support the armed forces. In addition, there is a ban onleaving the country for all men between the ages of 18 and 60, so that they cango into battle for the fatherland, whether they want to or not.The Russian state, on the other hand, is trying to cover up the war in its owncountry: Russian media are exposed to censorship, not only is reportingfundamentally restricted, but the war can only be described as a "militaryoperation". Social networks can only be used to a limited extent. Parts of theRussian population who have the courage to take to the streets and demonstrateagainst the war of aggression are imprisoned within a very short time, well-knownactivists are sometimes imprisoned as soon as they leave the house. There havealready been several thousand arrests. The thrust is clear: the war in Russia isto be made invisible.However, the answer on the other side is no less harsh. Regardless of the factthat the logic of fighting fire with fire has always been wrong, the dams thathave been built up over decades are now breaking in Germany: Germany's militarybudget has just been increased by 100 billion euros, a sum whose size probablyvery few can actually imagine . This made the German military post the thirdlargest in the world almost overnight. At the same time, calls for areintroduction of conscription are getting louder. And again it is the Greens andSPD who are capable of this militarization. None of this helps in the presentsituation and it is indicated, that such sums cannot be raised in view of theimpending climate collapse with reference to the debt brake and other excuses.When it comes to expanding one's own geopolitical supremacy, it seems that everymeans is right.But wars are not only waged with conventional weapons. A whole catalog ofsanctions by the NATO states and the EU is intended to make Putin aware of theconsequences of his actions. The member states have now closed their entireairspace to Russian air traffic, and even the otherwise neutral Switzerland wentalong with it. Companies such as Apple or VW have stopped selling their productsand services within Russia. However, the exclusion of Russia from the EuropeanSWIFT procedure and the freezing of the Russian central bank reserves have a muchmore serious effect. As a result, the ruble, which has been at a permanent lowsince the annexation of Crimea in 2014, only knows one direction: further andfurther down. Trade relations with Russia have been largely suspended by EUmembers and the USA, but Russian oil and gas continue to flow through thepipelines at record speed, as they were explicitly spared the sanctions.Economists are already talking about a financial war of unprecedentedproportions. Material victims of these measures are not, for example, Putin andhis autocratic government or the network of oligarchs he is familiar with. It isthe Russian people for whom life is becoming more expensive every day, if theycan still get their money at all. And, without wanting to equate it, gas prices,for example, will also become more expensive here, workers can also bear thebrunt, yes, the class state was meant seriously. Russian oil and gas continue toflow through the pipelines at record speed, as they were explicitly spared thesanctions. Economists are already talking about a financial war of unprecedentedproportions. Material victims of these measures are not, for example, Putin andhis autocratic government or the network of oligarchs he is familiar with. It isthe Russian people for whom life is becoming more expensive every day, if theycan still get their money at all. And, without wanting to equate it, gas prices,for example, will also become more expensive here, workers can also bear thebrunt, yes, the class state was meant seriously. Russian oil and gas continue toflow through the pipelines at record speed, as they were explicitly spared thesanctions. Economists are already talking about a financial war of unprecedentedproportions. Material victims of these measures are not, for example, Putin andhis autocratic government or the network of oligarchs he is familiar with. It isthe Russian people for whom life is becoming more expensive every day, if theycan still get their money at all. And, without wanting to equate it, gas prices,for example, will also become more expensive here, workers can also bear thebrunt, yes, the class state was meant seriously. Material victims of thesemeasures are not, for example, Putin and his autocratic government or the networkof oligarchs he is familiar with. It is the Russian people for whom life isbecoming more expensive every day, if they can still get their money at all. And,without wanting to equate it, gas prices, for example, will also become moreexpensive here, workers can also bear the brunt, yes, the class state was meantseriously. Material victims of these measures are not, for example, Putin and hisautocratic government or the network of oligarchs he is familiar with. It is theRussian people for whom life is becoming more expensive every day, if they canstill get their money at all. And, without wanting to equate it, gas prices, forexample, will also become more expensive here, workers can also bear the brunt,yes, the class state was meant seriously.The war is also bringing to light the deep-seated racism within the oh soenlightened so-called "Western world" more than usual: it is basically good thatfleeing Ukrainians are given the opportunity to leave the country as quickly aspossible. Poland alone has pledged to take in up to a million refugees. Againstthe background of the fact that refugees from other countries are still beingprevented from entering the country by force of arms at the European externalborders, the cruel double standards of the Nobel Peace Prize winner EU are shownhere. There are also reports from people from Nigeria or India, for example, whohave previously studied in Ukraine. Now they are either prevented from boardingbuses and trains heading towards the border or, once they have made it to theborder, they are denied exit by the Ukrainian border guard because nativeUkrainians are given preferential treatment. Deutsche Bahn's offer that refugeesreceive free long-distance travel only applies to people with a Ukrainianpassport. Anyone who is not alternatively European, Christian or white becomes avictim of racist ideology even in the face of war.The narrative of the "good" because supposedly civilized "Western world" can alsobe found in many places within the media. In the past few days, the horror hasbeen expressed again and again that such barbarism of war can even be possible inoh so enlightened Europe. The tenor that we are not in Afghanistan or Syriaspeaks for itself. As always, the involvement of NATO and the EU in countlesswars and conflicts is studiously ignored as long as one can pretend to be morallysuperior. There are even brazen lies when it is claimed that this is the firstwar on European soil that violates international law, the destruction ofYugoslavia by NATO seems to have been forgotten, just like the war of NATO memberTurkey against Kurds remains unmentioned. It is also threatening how quickly thewell-known procedure is followed in this country: "Anyone who is not with us is afriend of Putin". No, that's not us, the side we stand on are the people who areunfortunately crushed between these blocks in the truest sense of the word. Weare in solidarity with the people, with the workers, not with the rulers, nomatter where.Anyone who uncritically applauds these sanctions and the acceleratedmilitarization of the EU states must be aware that this only adds fuel to thewarmongering fire. At the end of the day, every war only serves the rulers, nomatter what the flag. Everyone else loses.Solidarity with the people of Ukraine!Solidarity with the demonstrators and political prisoners in Russia!Solidarity with all refugees!https://likos.noblogs.org/2022/03/04/no-putin-no-nato-no-war-redebeitrag/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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