SOLIDARITY WITH THE WORKERS OF UKRAINE WHO DO NOT WANT TO ENLIST

This article is taken from our Czech comrades in ČAS – ČESKOSLOVENSKÉ ANARCHISTICKÉ SDRUŽENÍ – https://anarchiste.org

The Czechoslovak Anarchist Society (CAS) expresses solidarity and support for all Ukrainian men who are avoiding mobilization and conscription by taking refuge in the West. The EU estimates that there are roughly 750 thousand Ukrainians who are fit to fight, but refuse to enlist. The Czech Republic currently registers 94 643 men between the ages of 18 and 65, who have been granted temporary protection related to the war in Ukraine, and who are subject to mobilization. As anarchists, we strongly empathize with this immense army of people who refuse to die in a war of the powerful to further the imperialist interests of the West (the USA and the EU) on one side and the East (Russia and China) on the other. None of us can be forced against their will to take up arms and become cannon fodder!

The government and politicians Ukraine face a shortage of expendable manpower, and its minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, is displeased with the number of combat-ready men abroad. However, refusal to fight is more widespread than ever among working-class people even in Ukraine. Polish and Lithuanian statesmen have already declared that they are ready to assist Ukraine in the return of these persons. The Czech minister of foreign affairs Jan Lipavský (Pirates) said that Czechia does not support those who are evading lawful conscription. TOP 09 has joined SPD and ANO. It seeks to return combat-ready Ukrainians against their will. TOP 09 plans to discuss this topic at the next proceedings of the ruling coalition. This proposal came after more than two years of war in Ukraine from TOP 09’s Ondřej Kolář, the son of Petr Kolář, adviser to president Petr Pavel.

The Minister of the Interior, Vít Rakušan (STAN), has confirmed that the coalition is in discussions with the opposition concerning a legal amendment dubbed Lex Ukraine. However, he claims that the return of combat-ready Ukrainians to Ukraine is far from straightforward due to international law. „If the people are already on EU soil, and if they have not committed a crime on this soil, there is little chance to return them,“ said Rakušan, adding „at this moment, repatriation due to failure to obey conscription in another country is simply not possible.”

As anarchists, we protest against the actions of Czech and foreign politicians, who strive to prolong the war instead of working towards an end to the dying of thousands in a senseless geopolitical conflict by negotiating a ceasefire and peace! We protest against the actions of the Ukrainian government, which has never cared for the workers whom it now wants to send to the frontline slaughterhouses against their will. We support all deserters (Russians as well as Ukrainians) and those who refuse mobilization. We respect the conscience of anybody who decides to not take up arms, not fight, and save their own life as well as that of their family. Our lives are more than the interests of states, nations, and capital!

If the wealthy and politicians want to go to war, they themselves should don uniforms and go to the frontlines!

Not a penny and not a man for militarism and war!