Posts Tagged ‘Ukraine’
Russian Baby kidnappers : International Actions Protesting About Ukraine’s Stolen Children – June 1 2025, International Children’s Day
June 1 is International Children’s Day. Since 2014 Russia has forcibly kidnapped nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children. Protests against this barbaric crime are occurring all over the world.
Link : International Actions June 1, Ukraine’s Children Stolen by Russian Invaders
These crimes are a reminder of a very dark period in Ireland during most of the 20th century. Child abuse, baby-snatching, illegal adoptions, criminalising of innocent women – Irish “Mother and Baby Homes” and Magdalene Laundries were dungeons of evil where children were tortured.
During that dark period we learned that speaking up and taking public action is essential when crimes like this are drawn to our attention.
Details of Protests to be held in Ireland will be announced here soon.
Supporters of this initiative in Ireland include Ivana Bacik TD, leader of the Labour Party, who has issued the following public statement :
Since 2014, it is known that Russia has abducted nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children. Protests against this barbaric war crime are occurring all over the world, and Russia’s criminal actions have been condemned in the European Parliament and across EU Member States. I commend all activists who are taking part in protests against Russia’s abduction and deportation of Ukrainan children. I have raised this issue in Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament) and have demanded that the Irish government takes appropriate action to express the strongest possible condemnation of Russian war crimes.
Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader, Ireland
Crimes of Russia, Kidnapping of Ukrainian Children
The European Network for Solidarity With Ukraine (ENSU) invites all to this Zoom Event on May 30 :
Since 2014 Russia has forcibly transferred almost 20,000 Ukrainian children to areas under its control, assigned them Russian citizenship, forcibly adopted them into Russian families, and created obstacles for their reunification with their parents and homeland. The true scale of the crisis may be far greater.
On the eve of International Children’s Day, which is celebrated on the 1th of June we want to invite you to a meeting where whe can disscuss in more detail about the crimes of Russia towards Ukrainian children.
Our panelists will include:
– Kateryna Rashevska an international law and legal expert at the Regional Centre of Human Rights (https://krymbezpravil.org.ua/), children’s rights activist
– Mykola Komarovskyi, lawyer at NGO “Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group” (https://khpg.org/en/), author of one of the KHRPG submissions to the ICC regarding the forced deportation of Ukrainian children
Meeting in English, French and Ukrainian.
Zoom link (registration required):
https://us02web.zoom.us/…/register/QPZ2-j70RYGoF9bzvcGgMA
‘Do you like being shackled?’ Data shows ‘Trump slump’ of foreign tourists avoiding the US – Alternet.org
P:olitical Poison is spreading – across the globe police state practices are mushrooming. The articles below paint a frightening picture of Donald Trump’s USA.
‘Do you like being shackled?’ Data shows ‘Trump slump’ of foreign tourists avoiding the US
Link :
Do You Like Being Shackled? Data shows ‘Trump slump’ of foreign tourists avoiding the US
According to preliminary government data released on Tuesday, visits to the United States from abroad declined by 11.6 percent in March compared to the same month last year, with international arrivals from China seeing a decrease of nearly 1 percent.
Wolfgang Georg Arlt, the CEO of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, told ABC that the number of leisure trips taken by Chinese citizens to destinations such as Disneyland, Hawaii and New York is significantly declining and is unlikely to rebound until after President Donald Trump has left office. He referred to this trend as the “Trump Slump.”
The U.S. tourism sector anticipated a strong year in 2025 for foreign visitors. After a significant increase in international arrivals in 2024, some predictions suggested that this year’s numbers could match those seen before the COVID pandemic.
However, just three months into the year, there has been a sharp decline in international arrivals. Amid reports of tourists being detained at the border, many travelers from other countries are opting to avoid the U.S. in favor of other destinations. Reacting to the administration’s harsh immigration policies, several nations have updated their travel recommendations regarding the U.S. Recently, Germany amended its advisory to stress that having a visa or entry waiver does not ensure admission into the country. The UK Foreign Office also updated its guidance to highlight the importance of adhering to all regulations, noting that U.S. authorities strictly enforce entry rules and violations may lead to arrest or detention.
Read the rest of this entry »Welcome Galway News : Oughterard Community Calls on Government Minister Norma Foley TD to Stop the Eviction of Ukrainian Families
Oughterard Welcomes All Link :
Oughterard, Galway Welcomes All – Stop Eviction of Ukrainian Families
PRESS RELEASE:
Oughterard Community Calls on Norma Foley – TD to Stop the Eviction of Ukrainian Families
A number of Ukrainian residents from Oughterard Manor, local TDs, and a group of residents known as Oughterard Welcomes All are urging Norma Foley to intervene and prevent the pending eviction of their neighbours.
A representative of the Oughterard Manor residents said:
“We have thirteen children under 18 years old. Six attend Scoil Chuimín agus Caitríona in Oughterard, three go to St. Paul’s Secondary School, one attends Muire Doireglinne, and three are in a community college in Galway.
We were sure we would stay in Oughterard as long as possible. The kids have friends, they love their schools and teachers. We already feel like part of the community. We’re attending GRETB classes, joining local interest groups, taking part in events, and working. Many local people support us and stay in touch — they are our friends. We feel safe and comfortable here. It has been our home for more than two years.”
Read the rest of this entry »US base commander removed for refusing to lower Greenland and Danish flags at Pituffik Space Base – Small countries can humiliate imperialist bullies
The latest news from the Greenland capital Nuuk tells us Yankee bullies have lost the plot.
Very few people live in Greenland; the population is only 56,000. The large island has attracted the attention of the United States of America (USA) super-power, which is blundering around in the Arctic wilderness.
The U.S. military announced Thursday it had removed Col. Susannah Meyers, commander of its Pituffik base in Greenland, stating it would not tolerate any pushback against President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Meyers sent an email to base personnel on March 31 distancing herself from U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit three days prior, according to the independent news organization Military.com.
President Trump’s threats are disintegrating in many parts of the globe; we should remember that small countries are not powerless. They can stand up to imperial mad dogs and inspire others. Danish Red-Green Alliance member of parliament Søren Søndergaard observes :
Finally, as you may know, Trump has announced that he is going to annex Greenland to the United States! Perhaps to gain free access to all of Greenland’s minerals. Perhaps to prevent other countries from using the new shipping routes that are appearing after the polar ice caps melt. Or maybe simply because if you add the territory of Canada and Greenland to that of the United States, the American territory will be larger than that of Russia and will constitute the largest country in the world. This gives a new meaning to the slogan ‘Make America Great Again’: ‘Make America “Great” Again’.
But the small and proud Greenlandic people have a saying: ‘Nothing about Greenland without Greenland’.
On Easter 1916 “the world did gaze with deep amaze” after small Ireland struck a deadly blow against the world’s then biggest imperial monster, the British Empire. This defiant message of resistance is immortalized here by Sinéad O’Connor and the Chieftains :
Read the rest of this entry »“Our task is to do everything in our power to give Ukraine the best possible starting point for securing the fairest possible peace. This means putting pressure on our governments to give more aid to Ukraine. That is our main task.” – Søren Søndergaard MP, Red-Green Alliance, Denmark
Søren Søndergaard, a Red-Green Alliance member of the Danish parliament, delivered the following speech to a March 26 and 27 Brussels Solidarity With Ukraine Conference
1) Prerequisite for a just peace – more support for Ukraine
The latest developments, with Trump’s blatant betrayal, are putting enormous pressure on Ukraine. It will be forced to make very difficult choices with enormous consequences. But as friends of Ukraine, we must continue to insist that neither Trump, nor the EU leaders, nor indeed we, should decide the path forward for Ukraine.
This choice can only be made by Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Because they are the ones who are under attack, who are losing lives and suffering every day in the war.
Our task is to do everything in our power to give Ukraine the best possible starting point for securing the fairest possible peace. This means putting pressure on our governments to give more aid to Ukraine. That is our main task.
2) We are not giving enough = ‘rearmament of the EU’?
I have just returned from a security conference in Warsaw for representatives of the EU national parliaments and the European Parliament. Some speakers asked the following question: how is it that 500 [million] Europeans are begging 350 million Americans to stop 150 million Russians who are unable to win a war against 40 million Ukrainians?
I understand that some people are asking this question to argue in favour of a general militarisation of Europe. But the question itself contains an important point. If Putin’s Russia wins the war, it is not because Europe lacks the necessary resources. It is because of a lack of political will to support Ukraine.
Western countries have supported Ukraine sufficiently to enable it to continue the war, but not sufficiently to drive the invaders out of the occupied territories.
Instead, the war in Ukraine is now being used as an argument in favour of general rearmament throughout the EU. The European Commission’s grand plan – Rearm Europe – envisages spending 800 billion euros on strengthening military capabilities.
To sell it, the myth is being spread that the reason we have not been able to help Ukraine with the necessary military supplies is that the European arms industry is small and too weak.
Read the rest of this entry »Brussels conference lifts Ukraine solidarity to higher plane – Report by Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly Australia
The March 26-27 Brussels Solidarity with Ukraine conference drew together about 200 activists from a score of countries, in support of the Ukrainian people’s national and social rights.
A main organizer was Dick Nichols, who wrote the comprehensive report below;
Link :
Brussels Conference Lifts Ukraine Solidarity to a Higher Plane – Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly
The gathering was organised by the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU) and the Ukraine Solidarity Campaigns (USC) of England and Wales and Scotland. It was devoted to strengthening people-to-people solidarity, as the menace of Ukraine being partitioned and pillaged by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s and United States President Donald Trump’s governments looms ever larger.
The conference also took place in the context of ongoing conflict between Ukraine’s trade union, feminist, environmental, civil rights and progressive political movements and the neoliberal domestic policies of Volodymyr Zelensky’s government.
Read the rest of this entry »Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature
An important left-wing conference in solidarity with Ukraine took place in Brussels on March 26 and 27 2025. We will present a number of reports from this conference in the next few days. Here is the first item – written by Simon Pirani who publishes a People and Nature blog.
Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature
By Simon Pirani. Based on a talk given at a panel, “What peace?”, at the Solidarity with Ukraine event this week in Brussels
“What peace?” is a wide question. To narrow it down, we can ask: what sort of peace is being discussed among Ukrainians?
In an interview about the Trump-Putin talks, and the prospects for any agreement, our comrade Denis Pilash, a member of Sotsialnyi Rukh, said that “Ukrainians have two things in mind when thinking about any deal: the fate of people in the occupied territories, and how to prevent Russia from restarting the war.”
These points could frame areas for agreements, he argued. He pointed to the Ukrainian government’s position that it will not recognise illegal annexations, but would accept a ceasefire followed by negotiations.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 