The Chant d’ Oiseau Statement on Ukraine
We, representatives of the European branches of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, meeting from 23rd – 25th May at Chant d’Oiseau in Brussels,
(1) Contemplated with dismay the deteriorating situation in Ukraine.
(2) As European pacifists encourage all those in the region who are working for peace. Especially we express our solidarity with all those directly affected who are resisting the pressures towards polarisation and recourse to violence.
(3) Urge not only all in the region but also our own governments to resist thinking in terms of military “solutions”.
(4) Feel that we ourselves have to engage with this situation and we take back to our branches the question of how we co-ordinate our action to explore non-violent solutions.
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(5) Even while we were meeting, our attention was captured by a horror closer at hand when we heard the news of the multiple murder in the Jewish Museum here in Brussels. We express our condolences to and solidarity with the Jewish community of Brussels and Belgium in the face of this atrocity.
