Published 12 February 2023 at 14.00
Domestic. It was neither people nor defense that was at the center of Folk and custody, but rather rulers and war. In a longer interview with Göteborgs-Posten, the chairman of Swedish Peace paints a picture of an almost absurd event in Sälen.
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Keeping a cool head, acting grown-up and being matter-of-fact can seem like good qualities in crises and war. But after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Swedish rulers and journalists have devoted themselves to the opposite – calm and matter-of-factness has been replaced by belligerence and propaganda.
Göteborgs-Posten's interview with the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Association is in itself symptomatic.
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“It's days after Russia fired a cruise missile into a nine-story apartment building in Dnipro,” the paper begins and continues:
“At least 40 civilians have died, more than 80 are injured and many are missing. The barbaric act has caused the rest of the world to boil with anger and Ukraine is being offered lots of new weapons”
The article is published on February 11, more than three weeks after Ukrainian government spokesman Oleksiy Arestovych was fired after admitting the robot crash was the result of Ukrainian air defenses attacking the robot and causing it to crash to the ground.
In his article, however, GP also points out that the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Association, which used to almost always participate and comment on wars on radio and television, is now never allowed in.
30 years ago it was obvious that Swedish Freds was involved in debates on defense appropriations and foreign policy, and advocated peace and disarmament. Today it looks different, as programs like Aktuellt and Agenda usually only invite debaters who discuss how best to arm up, join NATO and fuel the war in Ukraine.
The organization's chairman Kerstin Bergeå tells GP that she did not have high expectations when her organization went to the defense conference People and Defense in Sälen.
That it was war that would be the call this time, and not peace, was she “mentally prepared” for. But once there, reality surpassed her fears.
– It really was an atmosphere as if it were war. Arms are the way to peace, said NATO Chairman Jens Stoltenberg. Peaceful coexistence with Russia is impossible, claimed Russia expert Gudrun Persson, Bergeå told GP.
With former members such as Hjalmar Branting, Per Anders Fogelström and August Strindberg, Swedish Peace is the oldest peace organization, founded in 1883.
The fact that one leads a waning existence in the media is not, however, a sign that the organization is ignored. Since Putin entered Ukraine and Swedish rulers started their debated so-called NATO process, the number of members has doubled. Today there are about 9,000 people.