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Youth conferences once again in Ukraine
For the first time since the russian full scale invasion of Ukraine the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation in cooperation with European Solidarity Party of Ukraine held a youth conference: “Rebuilding Democracy: Challenges, Elections and Youth Engagement in Post-War Ukraine”. The two day conference featured international as well as local speakers and discussions in working groups.
Here the youth organisation Solidarna Molod writes more about the conference.
Navalny transferred to maximum-security prison
This week, the lawyers of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny were denied meeting him as as planned since long. Upon their arrival to the penal colony where Navalny has been held for months, Russian authorities explained to the lawyers that Navalny simply was not there, since he had been transferred to a new maximum-security prison.
Questions regarding his whereabouts and health remain unanswered.
In March, Navalny was sentenced to nine years in prison. He was convicted on charges of fraud in a trial that was entirely politically motivated and orchestrated from the Kremlin.
Professor Nenad Stojanovic: Nationalist politics might cause new conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina still contains of nationalistic tensions since the war in the 90s, because of the ruling partys continuation to operate a nationalistic agenda.
”The thing that should worry us the most is when we see that some of these policies are proto-fascist, because they advocate the ideology of “blood and soil”. And such an ideology has always proved disastrous for humanity, including the peoples in whose name it was implemented,” Stojanovic said.
The discussion must be about eliminating discrimination and reforming the electoral system, abolition of the House of Peoples at the state level, but also at the entity level, because of the unclearness to the inhabitans what they are for. The national interest can be protected within the House of Representatives.
“The international community, and especially the European Union, is still important because it represents a support for at least those residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina who are aware that the policies of certain ethno-national leaders can lead them into new conflicts”, Stojanovic finished.
Victory Day speeches from Zelenskyy and Putin
On Victory Day, May 9, both president Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin talked more about the present than the past. Both of them insisted that their respective enemies today were the heirs of the Nazis, and they gave their promise that their countries would succeed in what both of them said was a defensive war they had been forced to fight.
The main difference, however, was that for most people existing beyond the reach of Russian state television, Zelenskyy’s arguments were probably a lot more convincing. Putin has under a long period of time used his May 9 speeches to draw parallels between the second world war and the present day, and this year was nothing new, except for the intensification of the speech, when his army at the same time was fighting a new war.
The West was “rewriting history”, Putin complained, ignoring the fact that his regime has done more than any other in Europe to dismantle free historical inquiry about the war years.
One of the telegrams Putin sent on the occasion was a message to the Ukrainian people, wanting them to have “good health, success and a long life”. A short while after the speech, air raid sirens sounded again in Kyiv.
Accusations of Polish government hacking centre-right opposition
Polish senator Krzysztof Brejza, a representative of the country’s centre-right party Civic Platform, is accusing the country’s government for hacking his personal cell phone during the parliamentary elections in 2019. Mr. Brejza, who led his party’s campaign, repeatedly called for investigation into the hacking as his personal messages was leaked to government controlled media during the campaign in 2019.
However, his calls were ignored by the leading government party Law and Justice, as it denounced the private investigation firm, contracted by the Civic Platform to investigate the hacking, as being funded by George Soros and “anti-Polish”.
The main opposition parties in Poland have jointly called for a parliamentary investigation to the accusations. Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk has publicly denounced the efforts of Law and Justice to destabilize and weaken the democratic institutions of the country, which will have parliamentary elections in 2o23.
Women Conference in Prishtina, Kosovo
Women Conference in Tirana, Albania
November 19-21, 2021, the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation invited high level politicians and members of the Women Organisation of the Democratic Party in Albania for a conference. The topic was “Political Campaign and the Women’s Organisation Goals”. For the opening, Anna-Maria Corazza Bildt, former Member of the European Parliament and Member of the Hjalmarson Foundation’s Board, held an inspiring speech to the participants on how to develop as a women in politics.
Women Conference in Banja Luka
New report calls for further support for Belarusian diaspora
In a recent report published by Alesia Rudnik, chair of the organization Belarusians in Sweden, she calls for further actions against the dictatorship in Belarus.
The report, published Monday November 8th by Stockholm Free World Forum, highlights the important role that the Belarusian diasporas play in advocating freedom in Belarus. Rudnik argues that the stolen elections in August 2020 politicised the diaspora, and that the political crisis in Belarus has been a facilitator for further engagement in politics for many Belarusians living abroad.
She pointed out several recommendations for decision makers in Europe, such as providing financial support to Belarusian diaspora initiatives promoting civil society and democracy and providing protection for Belarusians working with the democratic movement. Furthermore, the EU should assist the Belarusian diaspora in establishing infrastructure for future technical and legal support for the democratic movement in Belarus.