EDUARD CHMELÁR
President of OZ Zjednotení za mier
Today, the largest sabbat of militarists, GLOBSEC 2021, begins in Bratislava. A global security conference, at which international issues have traditionally been discussed and decided, especially by militant politicians, generals, arms lobbyists, army planners and other warmongers. Thanks to them, a distorted view of the world that does not correspond to reality dominates the security debates. While Zuzana Čaputová spoke at the NATO summit about the need for even more armaments (as if its current 2% of GDP were not enough), the prestigious Stockholm International Peace Research Institute issued a warning on the same day that nuclear disarmament had stopped and the great powers were modernizing and expanding their armaments. While Alliance officials support Ukraine’s accession to NATO and see it as their democratic ally, independent analysts point out that Kiev is, in fact, much more inclined to the authoritarian systems we know in Russia or Turkey. While the G7 countries are furiously looking for a way to halt the boom in the Chinese economy, China calmly replies that the days when a small group of states dictated their will to the world are long gone, overwhelmed by outdated imperial thinking, and that Beijing has always believed that big or small countries, strong or weak, poor or rich are equal and that global solutions should be the result of consultations of all countries.
There is less and less cooperation in the world and MIER has in fact dropped out of the vocabulary of current politicians. Changing this mindset is not a task for one political party. We must unite as they unite. To oppose them with senseless proposals and to explain that the living needs of our countries and this planet require, on the contrary, disarmament, the reduction of international tensions and the transfer of funds to save the climate. Although there are many, many more people who long for peace, disarmament and the transfer of funds to health, education, the environment and culture, they are overwhelmed by a handful of powerful militant lunatics who think that arms races are a priority. We want to be a counterweight to such forces that want to silence peaceful people and a creative alternative to building a culture of peace.
Therefore, I decided with a group of young people that every year on World Peace Day (September 21) we will organize an international peace forum United for Peace in Bratislava. The name is based on our initiative of the same name, which was supported six years ago by thousands of people from seven countries, including three former Slovak presidents (Michal Kováč, Rudof Schuster, Ivan Gašparovič), rectors of several universities (including President of the Slovak Rectors’ Conference Rudolf Kropil), former Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Kavan, co-founder of Charter 77 Petr Uhl, prominent artists such as Pavol Hammel, Juraj Jakubisko, Peter Jaroš, Mária Kráľovičová, Božidara Turzonovová and many others.
By organizing this event, I am fulfilling my dream, among other things, because I consider building a culture of peace to be my life mission. Several interesting guests from abroad have already promised us the participation. However, their number and scope of the whole event depends to a large extent on the funds that we will have at our disposal. It is clear to us that, unlike Globsec, we will not receive contributions from foundations linked to the US Congress budget, from arms companies, or from the State Department, and we would not want such money. We can only rely on the strength of most peaceful people, who realize that only mutual solidarity, help and union will help us in this unequal struggle for a peaceful future on our planet. That is why I want to ask you for kind contributions on my own behalf and on behalf of the United For Peace civic association, so that we can achieve our goals as much as possible. For this purpose, we have opened a transparent account, and each contribution of 50 euros and more will also be an automatic ticket to an international peace conference and a meeting with exclusive guests, whose names we will disclose immediately after the final confirmation of their participation. We guarantee transparent handling of every penny, no amount of this money goes to the salaries or rewards of the organizers, we do it all for free, voluntarily, out of enthusiasm and conviction for a good cause. We thank all generous donors in advance. You can find the transparent account number here:
