>The European Marches against unemployment group together numerous >organisations which may have different analyses about the Balkan war. In >France, militants from trade unions and associations have drafted a text, on >which we have elaborated the day of our meeting of the secretariats of the >European Marches in Cologne, the 16th of April 1999. This text has been >considered as a good basis for discussion and the amended project must be >discussed in each country of the European Marches network. >Please send us your comments. > >STOP THE BOMBING >LET US HELP THE PEOPLES OF THE BALKANS > >Every day that goes by, the war in Kosovo aggravates the situation of the >civil populations, who were already greatly affected by the years of >insidious war and by the privations provoked mainly by the serbian >nationalist rulers. >The responsibility of the European Union and of the USA, through NATO, in >the actual situation is devastating. Far from helping the Kosovo population, >the bombing permitted to the Serbian government to intensify the ethnic >cleansing and to procede to even more massacres in Kosovo, while repressing >Serb opposers and rallying around it the population of Serbia, in a reflex >of nationalistic defense. > >We demand that: > >- the NATO bombings stop immediately >- negociations start and a political solution be sought; for it, one should >take into account the aspirations of the Kossovar people and the respect of >their right to self determination in a multi-cultural Kosovo >- the refugees who so wish be granted hospitality and free movement in all >European countries > >In the context of war and rise of nationalism all over the Balkans, the >autonomous expression of civil society, trade unions and associations is a >decisive element for preserving and developing ties between the communities >based on dialogue and democratic values, reconstruction of solidarity, and >social struggles overcoming the splits between peoples. > >That is why we engage ourselves, as militants from associations and trade >unions, in a project of aid for the development of information, exchange and >debates networks in order to support democratic associations and trade >unions, whether they are refugees or still in Kosovo, in Serbia or anywhere >else in the Balkans. > >On the agenda of the European Union summit in Cologne, on June the 3rd and >4th, two points are included: >- one action plan for setting up a European defence, in relation to NATO >- a pact for employment, which will represent a heavy menace for the workers >and for the unemployed in European Union. > >In view of this summit, the European Marches network organise a series of >actions which will culminate in a large demonstration in the streets of >Cologne on the 29th of May 1999. > >In order to mark our solidarity with all of the peoples of the Balkans >victims of this war, to denounce those responsible for it, NATO, the USA, >the EU and the Milosevic government, and in a broader sense to affirm our >opposition to the militarist logic, which is useless from a social point of >view and criminal from a human point of view, we decide to give the European >Marches 99 the following name: > >"European Marches against unemployment, job insecurity, exclusions, racism >and war" > > > >-- >Marches europeennes contre le chomage, la precarite et les exclusions >104, rue des Couronnes Tel : +33 1 44 62 63 44 >F-75020 Paris France Fax : +33 1 44 62 63 45 >e-mail : mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.mygale.org/02/ras/marches/ > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] (information en français, lecture seule) >[EMAIL PROTECTED] (information in english, read only) >[EMAIL PROTECTED] (discussion, read/write, lecture/ecriture) >Gestionnaire de la liste: F. Sauterey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > > regards, Tom Walker http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/covenant.htm