Another war in Europe no longer seems improbable or unlikely. For some people of the continent, it has been a reality already in Ukraine, in Georgia, in Nagorno Karabakh and on the Turkish-Syrian border. So are the military build ups and threats of full scale warfare.
European security architecture, set up after World War II and then in the Helsinki agreements, has proven outdated and is facing its most serious challenge in decades.
We, civic activists from states that are signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights, members of the Council of Europe or participating in the OSCE note the urgent need to prevent war in Europe.
We believe that the connection between peace, progress and human rights is inextricable. A strong and free civil society, rule of law and real guarantees for the protection of human rights are key elements of comprehensive security within larger Europe, yet coordinated and purposeful suppression of civil society institutions in a number of countries as a theme is sidelined to the margins of international relations. Authoritarian contagion, as seen in Russia, Turkey, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Poland, Hungary, and in the Brexit and Trump phenomena, is associated with international conflict, social injustice, discrimination and division. It is a threat just as dangerous as the COVID-19 pandemic or climate change.
We are convinced those common challenges should be addressed through international dialogue of which civil society is an integral part. Such international dialogue should include three key pillars that defined Helsinki agreements: (1) security, disarmament and territorial integrity; (2) economic, social, health and environmental co-operation; (3) human rights and the rule of law.
We call upon the goodwill of states to pursue that dialogue and underline our commitment to assist those efforts.
We believe that a joint international civic movement with an anti-war and pro-human rights stance is a necessity and commit ourselves to pursue its formation throughout Europe.
***
Еще одна война в Европе более не кажется маловероятной. Для некоторых жителей континента она уже стала реальностью: в Украине, в Грузии, в Нагорном Карабахе, на турецко-сирийской границе. Также реальностью стали и наращивание военной мощи, и угрозы развертывания полномасштабной войны.
Архитектура европейской безопасности, созданная после Второй мировой войны, а затем в рамках Хельсинкских соглашений, оказалась устаревшей и столкнулась с самым серьезными вызовами за последние десятилетия.
Мы, гражданские активисты из государств, подписавших Европейскую конвенцию о правах человека, членов Совета Европы или участвующих в ОБСЕ, подчеркиваем срочность и важность предотвращения еще одной войны в Европе.
Мы убеждены в неразрывной связи между миром, прогрессом и правами человека. Сильное и свободное гражданское общество, верховенство права и реальные гарантии защиты прав человека являются ключевыми элементами всеобъемлющей безопасности в рамках большой Европы, однако теме скоординированного и целенаправленного подавления институтов гражданского общества в ряде стран, увы, придается второстепенное внимание на периферии международных отношений. “Заражение общества авторитаризмом”, которое мы видим в России, Турции, Беларуси, Азербайджане, Польше, Венгрии, а также в феноменах Брексита и Трампа, ассоциируется с международными конфликтами, социальной несправедливостью, с дискриминацией и разделением людей и обществ. Это такая же угроза, как пандемия COVID-19 или изменение климата.
Мы убеждены, что эти общие проблемы должны решаться посредством международного диалога, неотъемлемой частью которого является гражданское общество. Такой международный диалог должен включать в себя три основных элемента, определивших в свое время Хельсинкские соглашения: (1) безопасность, разоружение и территориальная целостность; (2) экономическое и социальное сотрудничество, взаимодействие в области охраны здоровья и окружающей среды; (3) права человека и верховенство закона.
Мы призываем государства проявить добрую волю к продолжению этого диалога и подчеркиваем нашу готовность содействовать этим усилиям.
Мы считаем, что совместное международное гражданское движение с антивоенной и правозащитной позицией является необходимостью и сейчас, и в будущем, и обязуемся добиваться его формирования по всей Европе.
Присоединяйтесь к нам!
Initial signatories (alphabetical order)
- Anthony Barnett, Co-founder openDemocracy
- Pedro Bacelar de Vasconcelos, Chairperson of Portuguese Delegation at Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
- András Bozóki, Professor of Political Science, CEU
- Luis Braga da Cruz , former Minister of Economy Portugal
- Ingeborg Breines, consultant, former co-president International Peace Bureau and former director of UNESCO
- Luke Cooper, academic and co-founder Another Europe Is Possible
- Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins, former Minister of Finance and Education of Portugal
- John Feffer, Director, Foreign Policy In Focus
- Ana Gomes, former MEP Portuguese Socialists and 2021 presidential candidate
- Renato Janine Ribeiro, former minister of education of Brazil
- Mary Kaldor, Professor Emeritus of Global Governance, LSE
- Dmitri Makarov, Council Member of the Moscow Helsinki Group
- Paul Mason, journalist and author
- Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Center for Civil Liberties (Kyiv)
- Attila Mesterhazy, Hungarian Parliament, Vice -Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee
- Niccolo Milanese, Director of European Alternatives
- Lena Nemirovskaya, School of Civic Education
- Kalypso Nicolaïdis, Professor at the School of Transnational Governance (EUI) and Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford
- Isabel Pires de Lima , former Minister of Culture, Portugal
- Artur Sakunts, Head of Vanadzor office of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, Armenia
- Saskia Sassen, Professor, Columbia University, New York City
- Yuri Senokosov, School of Civic Education
- Narcís Serra, former deputy prime minister and former defence minister of Spain
- Rasha Shaaban, Cultural Activist, Feminist, board member European Alternatives
- C. Spivak, Professor Columbia University
- Alvaro Vasconcelos, Founder of Forum Demos , former Director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies ( EUISS)
- Idoia Villanueva Ruiz MEP, Unidas Podemos
- Gert Weisskirchen (prof. ret.), MP 1976 – 2009; Spokesperson SPD Parliamentary Group 1999 – 2009
- Ruth Wodak, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Lancaster University/Universität Wien
Additional signatories (alphabetical order)
- Itty Abraham, academic and writer
- Françoise Alamartine, Attac France
- Heinz Allgäuer-Hackl, Prof. (FH) – FH Campus Vorarlberg/Austria
- Laura Alonso Cano, WILPF España / President
- Eleni Andreouli, The Open University
- Rowinda Appelman, Dutch Research Council
- Jordi Armadans Gil, FundiPau / Director
- Vojkan Arsic, Center E8, Serbia / Executive director
- John Austin, former UK Labour MP (1992-2010)
- Ana Barrero Tiscar, Director, Fundación Cultura de Paz
- Ana Barrero Tiscar, Asociación Española de Investigación para la Paz (AIPAZ)
- Ana Benavente, sociologist
- Wolfgang Benedek, retired prof., University of Graz
- João Bettencourt Relva, researcher and university professor
- Tim Beyer Helm, Co-Founder, WorldWide Wednesday
- Leyla Binici, Militante écologiste
- Oksana Briukhovetska, MFA Candidate, University of Michigan
- Sally Brooks, honorary fellow, University of York
- Georg Blokus, Grassroots Organizer, European Alternatives
- Claudia Brunner, Associate Professor in Peace Studies, University of Klagenfurt
- Joanne Callaghan, Chair of Weaver Vale For Europe
- Tânia Cerqueira, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto
- Vasyl Cherepanyn, Head of the Visual Culture Research Center / Kyiv Biennial
- Anna Chiara Forte
- Patricia Chilton
- Paul A. Chilton, Professor Emeritus, Lancaster University, Assoc. Fellow, University of Warwick
- Arlene Clemesha, university professor São Paulo
- Richard Corbett, former leader of the UK Labour Party MEPs
- Leonardo Costa, researcher and university professor
- Eva Czermak, Caritas Austria
- Giuseppe De Marzo, Coordinatore Nazionale, Rete Dei Numeri Pari
- Monica Di Sisto, Journalist, Vice President of Fairwatch Observatory
- Bernard Dreano, Chairperson of the CEDETIM Center for international solidarity studies and initiatives (Paris)
- Zsolt Enyedi, Central European University
- Anna Falcone, Giurista e attivista politica
- Eugenio Fatigante, journalist, Avvenire
- António Ferrari, university professor
- Alexia Gardner
- Lévy Gérard, Europe Écologie Les Verts
- Gian Giacomo Migone, former member of the Italian Senate
- David E Gibson, Peace Home Campaigns, Organizing Director
- Jérôme Gleizes, Conseiller de Paris Écologiste
- Daniel Guerrier, Journaliste Honaraire, Éditeur Spartacus
- El Haite, Liberal International
- Odile Hélier
- Judith Herrin, Professor Emerita
- Lars Hochmann, Professor for Transformation and Entrepreneurship at Cusanus Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung
- Bjørn Ihler, The Khalifa Ihler Institute
- Mikhail Ilyin, political scientist and semiotician
- Isabelle Ioannides, researcher and activist
- Jose Javier Olivas Osuna, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia and LSE
- María Jesús Luna, Fundación Seminario de Investigación para la Paz
- Lubomila Jordanova
- Ben Kim
- Gerhard Kofler, AbFaNG – Aktionsbündnis für Frieden & Gewaltfreiheit
- Judith Kohlenberger, Institute for Social Policy, Vienna University of Economics and Business
- Nomiki Konst, Matriarch, USA
- Kristijan Kovačić, Croatian Platform for International Citizen Solidarity
- Remzi Lani, Director, Albanian Media Institute
- Juha Leppänen
- Louis Mackay
- Denis MacShane, former UK Minister of Europe
- Carmen Magallón, Fundación SIP (Seminario de Investigación para la Paz /Presidenta)
- Walter Manoschek, University of Vienna, Professor for Political Science
- Jean-Louis Marolleau
- Lorenzo Marsili, author and director of Studio Rizoma
- Jean Marc Salmon, social scientist, Paris
- Kevin Martin, President, Peace Action (USA)
- Teemu Matinpuro, Executive Director, Finnish Peace Committee
- Josep Mayoral i Antigas, Ayuntamiento de Granollers
- Elena Mazzoni, Transform! Italia
- Maria Mayrhofer, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Aufstehn.at
- Heidi Meinzolt, WILPF
- Manuela Mesa, Director CEIPAZ
- Fabienne Messica, Ligue des Droits de l’Homme
- Irene Messinger, Professor Social Work, FH Campus Wien
- Jéssica Moreira, researcher Universidade Lusófona do Porto
- Sotiris Mousouris, Maragopoulos Human Rights Foundation
- Wolfgang Müller-Funk, Univ. Vienna Diplomatische Akademie
- Selvije Mustafi, Romano Avazi
- Eduarda Neves, professor, curator and researcher
- Arno Niesner, ARGE Gemeinwohlcontrolling
- András Nyirati, Power of Humanity Foundation, president
- Walter Oetsch, Cusanus Hochschule fuer Gesellschaftsgestaltung Koblenz
- Frieder Otto Wolf, Freie Universität Berlin
- Pere Ortega Grasa
- Martin Pairet, Baker
- Stephan Panther, Cusanus Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung, Koblenz
- Haris Pasovic, East West Centre, Sarajevo/artistic director
- Sandy Paul, activist
- Andrea Pisauro, researcher and activist
- Patrizia Pozzo, Activist and co funder Studio Rizoma
- Bert Preiss, University of Vienna
- Anne Querrien, CEDETIM
- Elisa Reis, Professor of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
- Philippe Revault, EAPLV
- Ana Rodrigues, jurist and researcher
- Fátima Ribeirinho, teacher
- Andy Roberts
- Alexander Rusetsky, CIU
- Birgit Schlager
- Thomas Schmidinger, University of Vienna
- Luiza Schmidt, Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa
- Edgar Seca, Cooperativa Árvore
- Rahul Sethuram
- Martin Shaw, University of Sussex and Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals
- Marcel Siguret, Citoyen
- Elise Sijthoff, ChildPress.org
- Jacques Soncin, Journaliste – Président de Fréquence Paris Plurielle
- Igor Štiks, writer and political theorist
- Katharine Stinson
- Catherine Smallwood, Senior Emergencies Officer, WHO/Europe
- Norman Solomon, Director, RootsAction.org, based in USA
- Andy Stirling, Professor SPRU, University of Sussex Business School
- Carme Suñé Minguella, FundiPau
- David Swanson, Executive Director, World Beyond War
- Seema Syeda, Communication and Campaigns Officer, Another Europe Is Possible
- Fernando Vasco Chironda, Comitato 3 Ottobre – Italy
- Vesna Teršelič, Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past
- Marcela Uchôa, researcher
- Yury Urnov, Wilma Theater, Philadelphia, Co-Artistic Director
- Viviana Valastro
- Isabel Valente, university researcher
- Tiago Veloso Dias
- Roberto Veneziani, Professor, QMUL
- José Vitor Malheiros, science communication consultant
- Ingrid Vorwahlner, Research Coordinator
- Cat Villiers, Filmmaker
- Olha Voropai, NGO Poruch
- Hilary Wainwright, co-founder, Red Pepper magazine
- Julie Ward, former MEP and Another Europe NC
- Robin Wilson, journalist and researcher
- Josef Weidenholzer, former MEP, em. Prof. University of Linz/Austria
- Shoshana J. Wodak, Prof. VUB-VIB Center for Structural Biology, Member of EMBO
- Kasia Wojcik, artist and activist, IIPM
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