Ukraine: ‘Do they want us to use bows and arrrows?’

Report from Madrid peace conference

I just attended the European Conference for Peace, staged in Madrid by Podemos and attended by leading parliamentarians from some of Europe’s radical left parties – most notably the Belgian Workers Party, Syriza, Sinn Fein, Melenchon’s LFI and Jeremy Corbyn.

It was a disappointment – and if we’re unlucky it will be another step on the European Left’s route to electoral decline. The manifesto drafted for the conference includes three basic demands:

“an immediate ceasefire [in Ukraine] and support negotiations for a full and lasting peace”.

“the protection of all civilians who flee or remain in their homes, evacuations through humanitarian corridors and guarantees of food and health care”.

“scrap Ukraine’s debt and commit resources to support the country’s national and popular development”.

I support all these demands. But despite being invited to endorse the manifesto, I cannot.

Because it is just another abstract demand for peace, put forward by politicians who in the concrete reality have argued against some sanctions on Russia and against their own governments supplying Ukraine with weapons.