in the context of transnational days of action against militarism and nationalism from the Balkans we are publishing two new zines:
and FUCK FRONTEX, a translation and adaptation of demands to abolish frontex (https://abolishfrontex.org) on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the agency
Posted in Uncategorized
The assembly of Balkan solidarity network gathered at the Balkan anarchist bookfair in Prishtina, Kosovo is calling for ‘Transnational days of action against militarism and nationalism’ between 1st and 10th October 2024. We call on everyone to organize actions in their own localities and in their own ways during this period, opposing the conditions of war: nationalism, militarism, patriarchy, and exclusionary politics, among others. We call for actions against the arms industry and the transport of weapons, against all national military apparatuses, multinational military coalitions, and the increasing militarization of our societies. As in previous years, we propose to emphasize our solidarity with all deserters, war resisters, and total army objectors.
The call for days of action is rooted in the long-term efforts of the anarchist movement in the Balkans against militarism and war that was once again confirmed during the final assembly at BAB2024 in Pristina, during which we emphasized: “War is an intrinsic part of the capitalist system. Whether low-intensity or full-blown, it serves as an important tool for the expansion of capitalism by opening new sources for exploitation, such as land, sea, minerals, all living beings, or the production and sale of weapons as capital. We don’t fall into the trap of considering a conflict as a binary between nation-states, although we do accept its nuances and contexts of how they happen; we see it as a war of capital against societies. Wars in Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Myanmar, Sub-Saharan Africa, cartel wars in Mexico, and others all share the same logic of domination and expansion of capital, which only brings death and destruction.”
To this we add more on the particularities of our geography: “We recognize that the states of the Balkans are not mere sideline spectators to the spectacle of war but an intrinsic part of it; from hosting major world military installations, provide training grounds for armed forces, offer logistics and corridors for arms and troop transfers, contribute technical know-how, playing a significant role in global war maneuvers and producing and selling weapons around the world, thus, with being part of and enabling murder and genocide. While private and state sectors work hard, hand in hand, to develop even the smallest Balkan countries into serious arms-producing and/or purchasing region, we see increasing pressure on local societies to accept a new, ever more militarized reality under the pretense of fear and uncertainty for the future.”
Perhaps the most vile and evident example of war logic currently in front of our eyes is the genocide happening in Gaza and the attacks in the West Bank against the Palestinian people, with tens of thousands of civilians dead and the whole region destroyed, in continuous broadcast on our screens; all these supported by world imperialist powers and the military-industrial complex, including Balkan states, which provide political and military support. The genocidal war of annihilation in Gaza serves as both a reminder of the West’s colonialist ability to conduct wars of extermination and as a thanatopolitics laboratory, showcasing what the ruling classes currently want and are able to do to entire populations.
We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and call for resistance in each Balkan locality to disrupt the political and military support provided by the Balkan states to the state of Israel. We recognize that the enemy is not only war itself but also the states and capitalist systems that perpetuate it and profit from it.
Once more we emphasize the urgent need to organise campaigns against the arms industry, the war profiteers of all kinds including those that supply the military machine with food, energy and any other resource. We must not forget about resistance against all and every national military apparatus and multinational military coalitions. We must continue to struggle against all nation-states and all supranational political and economic unions and conglomerates, that claim our lives, our societies, the natural resources and the territories in which we live; against military mobilization and their industry that feeds on the wealth we produce; against rulers that claim to govern in our name while only protecting capital and ruling classes; and against all that enables war to thrive. We recognise here a need to be present and active in a space of public discussion and in spaces of the anarchist and antiauthoritarian movement in particular.
Over the walls of nationalism and war!
No border divides us, no nation unites us!
Stop the genocides in Gaza and everywhere!
Solidarity with all deserters!
#BalkanAnarchistsAgainstWar
Gathered in Prishtina during Balkan
Anarchist Bookfair, 7th July 2024
Posted in action days, antimilitarism, call, freepalestine
This pride against colonialism, genocide and war, against the exploitation, imprisonment and slaughter of our bodies and against destruction of land.
To take back the autonomy of our bodies and land is nothing radical. The corrupted wage war on the underprivileged and oppressed every second of every day - from the bosses who rape their employees, the police that beat up people protesting for peace, businessmen who bulldoze community spaces and pollute nature to make room for their investment projects of hostile infrastructure trying to push the poor out of gentrified cities; to the army men who kill people on command, dictators who jail any voice that opposes their regime and the companies that simply make their money with providing weapons for the colonizers. From Ljubljana to Gaza, our greatest enemy is the evil patriarchal neoliberal imperial complex, which feeds itself on the exploitation and destruction of our bodies, minds and the natural world, compromising our shared future for generations to come. When we say people of the world united in a struggle we will never forget our sisters in occupied territories hiding from bombs and snipers while the ideologically brainwashed elite soldiers dance on their graves. We will not stay silent while they broadcast their genocide live. We will occupy space that the ruling class thinks it can control, and we will shout in solidarity with the oppressed people and colonized land in Palestina, Sudan, Ukraine, Kurdistan, Kongo, Xinjiang, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Yemen, Iran, Libya, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Türkiye, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, Afghanistan, India, Kashmir, Myanmar, Pakistan, The Philippines, Mexico, Columbia, Brasil, The Chagos Islands, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Kanaky, Canada, Turtle Island and so on. The political and economic elite tries to convince themselves and the world that they have the right to decide what happens to bodies and land they think they can control. They wage wars, famine and genocides wherever they decide and deem profitable for them. The only solution is in our collective resistance to this systematic destruction of life. Men in power feel like they can exploit, rape and slaughter bodies and nature without any repercussion. Sitting in their glass castles they think they are immune to our revenge. They refuse to believe that the first stone thrown to break one window will be followed by a storm of rocks exponentially growing in size and velocity as our rage grows stronger with every sister's life compromised. We will avenge every single one of us that they try to take advantage of and soon their skyhigh towers will crumble. We will not rest until these violent power structures are dismantled, justice is served and the oppressed are liberated. We invite you to join the anarcha-queer-feminist resistance for the following actions as part of the PRIDE FOR FREE PALESTINE in Ljubljana:
7. 6. at 18:00 at a secret location (ask your local anarcha) DECOLONIAL STREET PARTY: a radical queer-feminist performative action with political speeches and performances, flash-mob, paste-ups and cocktail bar on free donations for Gaza - bring your colorful bodies and the spirit of resistance! 13. 6. at 11:00 in front of Egyptian Embassy (Opekarska cesta 18a) PROTEST IN MEMORY OF SARA HIGAZY: in solidarity with imprisoned free Palestine activists in Egypt, against the military dictator regime that enables the genocide in Gaza and the U.S imperial affairs in the region. 15. 6. at 17:00 at AKC Metelkova Mesto --> Pride Parade NO PRIDE IN GENOCIDE blocc at Ljubljana Pride: we will meet at Metelkova and join the parade under palestinian and anarcha-queer flags with a cocktail bar and screenprinted keffiyeh bandanas on free donations for Gaza. Dress-code: colorful queer creatures. 22. 6. at 20:00 in Clay Theater (Vilharjeva cesta 3) 1834: AL GHAWAZI & KHAWALT: Al Khawalt is part of the Arabic heritage of queer belly dance shows which got stigmatized over the time due to the French and British colonial influence in Egypt. Al Ghawazi are womxn belly dancers who were banned in Egypt because of French colonial influence in 1834. This belly and queer belly dance show is to raise funds for families in Gaza.
Posted in demo, freepalestine
To the Al Sisi military dictatorship, your move to join the ICJ case against the Israeli genocidal occupation will not distract us.
This move will not distract us from all the arrests of free Palestine activists last month.
This move won't distract us from your police protection of the Israeli occupation forces at the borders of Rafah.
We won't celebrate dictatorships.
Free all prisoners of conscience, including free Palestine activists in Egypt right now.
We demand that you abolish the Camp David Accords that were signed against the people's will.
We demand that you cut your economic ties with Israeli apartheid and stop exploiting the refugees at the Rafah borders, seeking 5000 euros per person to cross.
We are familiar with your dictatorial techniques and your political decorative tools will not distract us.
You will not distract us from the terror you cause people in Gaza and in Egypt.
You will not kill us and then walk into our funerals.
Stop protecting the Israeli occupation forces and cut all your economic and political ties with the Israeli occupation regime right now.
"You will not kill us and then walk into our funeral" is an Arabic proverb.
Al Sisijevi vojaški diktaturi: vaša poteza pridružitve tožbi na Meddržavnem sodišču ICJ proti izraelski genocidni okupaciji nas ne bo zamotila. Ta poteza nas ne bo odvrnila od izražanja solidarnosti z vsemi aktivisti za svobodno Palestino, ki ste jih aretirali prejšnji mesec. Ta poteza ne bo odvrnila naše pozornosti od vaše policijske zaščite izraelskih okupacijskih sil na meji v Rafi. Ne bomo praznovali diktature. Takoj izpustite vse zapornike vesti, vključno z aktivisti za svobodno Palestino v Egiptu! Zahtevamo, da prekinete sporazum, ki je bil v Camp Davidu sklenjen proti volji ljudi. Zahtevamo, da prenehate z izkoriščanjem beguncev na meji v Rafi, ki jim zaračunavate 5 in več tisoč dolarjev na osebo za prehod. Poznamo vaše diktatorske tehnike in vaša politično dekorativna orodja in ta nas ne bodo pretentala. Ne boste preusmerili naše pozornosti s terorja, ki ste ga povzročili ljudem v Gazi in v Egiptu. Ne boste nas ubili in potem vkorakali na naš pogreb. Takoj nehajte braniti izraelske okupacijske sile in prekinite vse gospodarske in politične vezi z izraelskim okupacijskim režimom! ZA SVOBODNO PALESTINO BREZ POLITIČNIH IGER VOJNIH DOBIČKARJEV!
Posted in demo, freepalestine
danes poteka tako imenovan dan slovenske vojske
nekateri ga praznujejo, mx pa opozarjamo, da je vojaški aparat eden od glavnih mehanizmov ohranjanja moči nacionalnih držav, ki temelji izključno na z nasiljem osnovanim profitom. kolesje, ki ga vrtijo vlade in proizvajalci (obrambna industrija) ter uporabniki orožja (vojaki), poganjajo kapitalistične, nacionalistične in patriarhalne tendence. ogromni finančni viri, ki se stekajo v takšne in drugačne operacije, so uporabljeni za pobijanje, uničevanje živjenskih prostorov in razvijanje tehnologije za vse bolj efektivno eliminiacijo vsega, kar stoji napoti peščici vladajočih. davkoplačevalcx neprostovljno vzdržujemo ta sistem, ki ubija, izkorišča, muči, pleni, okupira, nadzira, ustrahuje, izvaja spolno nasilje in se okorišča s (počasno) smrtjo prebivalstva.
vojska je, skupaj s policijo, tista, v domeni katere je mejna infrastruktura, ta pa je tista, ki z zidovi, žicami in nadzornimi sistemi preprečuje prehod vsem, ki so ravno zaradi okupacijskih sil primoranx zapustiti svoje domove - nekaterx zaradi izgube zivljenskga prostora, in drugx zaradi nestrinjanja s prisilnim sodelovanjem v oboroženih spopadih. meje med policijo, evropskimi instituacjami kot je frontex in nacionalnimi vojskami, se skozi organiazacije kot sta NATO in EU, počasi brišejo, obenem pa vzpodbujajo slepo izpolnjevanje ukazov, poslušnost podrejenih, avtoritativnost nadrejenih, disciplino skozi strah, in navidezno relevantnost skozi legalizirano nošnjo orožja.
vojna je posel, kjer štejejo trupla, vojaki pa ne predstavljajo ponosa, temveč smrt.
vojska nikoli ni bila in nikoli ne bo razlog za slavje.
za solidaren svet brez terorja IDFa ter ostalih nacionalnih vojsk, NATA, frontexa in morilskih agencij!
Posted in statement
our current anarcha-queer movement in ljubljana symbolically formed around the 8th of march march where for the last 4 years we tried to address issues like femicides as a symptom of patriarchal society, our dissatisfaction with liberal feminism, organise a strike against reproductive work and reclaim the night against gendered violence.
this year we could not recognise a more pressing issue as the current attack of the israeli state on palestinians and the still ongoing genocide in gaza. we can not imagine a womens and other oppressed genders liberation in the west while the killings and exploitation of our sisters continues by the hands of colonial forces around the world.
this is why we anarcha-queers, organised on the principals of (intersectional) feminism and de-colonial thought, called for two protests on the 8th of march in ljubljana this year. in the morning we gathered in front of the US embassy and called for recognising the american imperialist system as complicit in killings and oppression of peoples in the middle east and africa. the evening protest adressed the 8th of march through antimilitarism - we expressed a clear position to stop all wars, to support peoples (armed) resistence and we called for a feminist insurgence against the war machine all over the globe!
below we are sharing the call to the first protest (in english) and the statement from the sisters group sestre (in slovene):
On March 8th, during the working hours of the U.S. patriarchal and imperialist embassy in Ljubljana, at 11.30 am, we will stand in feminist solidarity against U.S. neo-colonial misogynist affairs. We call out the U.S. genocidal foreign affairs for their ongoing crimes in Gaza. The resolutions of patriarchy and imperialism will be held accountable.
We will stand together in solidarity for Abeer al-Janabi, for all the women in Gaza who suffered sexual violence in israeli prisons. For all the women and people of all genders who were sexually, physically, and psychologically abused and bombed by your armed patriarchal machines, for the sexual abuses and torture committed in your imperial prison in Iraq, the Abu Gharib prison we hold you accountable. We condemn you not only for your crimes in the Gulf War, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and so on but also for your horrible crimes against humanity in Libya and Syria, creating a humanitarian disaster rarely seen throughout the world. Your occupation and crimes have directly, seriously, and permanently harmed people’s rights to life and freedom.
On International Women’s Rights Day we demand:
– To cease-fire in Gaza immediately;
– To stop enabling and funding genocide against Palestinian people immediately;
– To leave Jordan and take your military imperialist misogynist armed troops with you;
– To take your imperialist, misogynist hands off Yemen;- To stop your colonial foreign misogynist affairs everywhere immediate
U.S.A., U.S.A., You can’t hide! You are funding genocide!
U.S.A., U.S.A., you can’t hide! You enable genocide!
Free Palestine! Free Gaza! Stop the genocide!
2 leti vojne v ukrajini, meseci genocida v gazi, kongu, sudanu, vojaško nasilje v mjanmaru, kolumbiji, jemnu in drugod po svetu. 8. marca se združimo v trdnem odporu proti sistemom zatiranja in izkoriščanja. ne bomo tiho, ko nas poskušajo imperialistične, patriarhalne in kolonialne sile utišati – glasno in odločno zahtevamo konec nasilja in izkoriščanja! skupaj smo močnejšx, to ni le slogan.
vojna, orožje, genocid in represija niso neizogibne stvari. terjati mir danes konkretno pomeni terjati razgradnjo režima apartheida in okupacije v palestini, prekinitev vseh vojaških intervencij v ukrajini, razgradnjo vojaške industrije in razpustitev vojaških organizacij vseh vrst, nasprotovanje porabi javnega denarja za oboroževanje, za vojno, za vojsko in policijo ter njuno infrastrukturo. nočemo kapitalističnega miru, ki za številne med nami pomeni življenje v pomanjkanju, vsakodnevno nasilje in izkoriščanje, hkrati pa marsikje pomeni tudi pripravo na novo vojno. zavračamo pinkwashing, ki ga izvaja izrael, saj spodbuja udeležbo žensk* in kvir oseb v vojski kot končni horizont emancipacije. jasno nam je, da je transfeministični boj edini način za kolektivno osvoboditev.
pozivamo k transfeministični stavki, ki ruši družbeno reprodukcijo in kapitalistično proizvodnjo, katere del je tudi vojna industrija. stavkamo proti vojni kot največjemu izrazu patriarhalnega nasilja, bojkotiramo civilno infrastrukturo, ki spodbuja genocid v palestini in oboroževanje opresorjev. ustavljamo skrbstveno delo – delo v naših domovih, v tovarnah, bolnišnicah, skladiščih, na univerzah in šolah, v pisarnah in menzah. stavko širimo onkraj plačanega dela, ki vključuje številne oblike dela na črno, prekarnega, neformalnega in nepriznanega dela. pozivamo k solidarnosti med vsemi zatiranimi skupnostmi.
koliko so vredna naša življenja? koliko je vreden naš čas? malo, premalo, skoraj nič za kapitalističe izkoriščevalce. če naša življenja niso vredna – stavkamo! ustavimo reprodukcijo kolonialno-imperialističnega sistema – če se ustavimo me, se ustavi svet – s protesti in stavkami vseh oblik plačanega in neplačanega dela, z bojkotom nakupov in vsakodnevnih dejavnosti, ki prinašajo dobiček kapitalističnemu sistemu, pozivanjem k embargu na orožje in krepitvijo prizadevanj za preprečitev in prekinitev dobave orožja izraelu, uporabo platform za govor o palestinskih ženskah v gazi, bloganjem in pisanjem na družbenih medijih ter širjenjem tvitov, letakov ali slik s sporočili solidarnosti z gazo in z vsemi koloniziramini skupnostmi globalnega juga. naj bo 8. marec stopnjevanje boja proti genocidni vojni v gazi in sionističnemu kolonialnemu projektu naseljencev v palestini!
transnacionalnistična solidarnost presega vse meje: pridružujemo se palestinkam, ki se upirajo in borijo za svoj obstoj in samoodločbo, tistim, ki zapuščajo državo izrael in vsem po svetu, od afrike, zahoda, bližnjega vzhoda do latinske amerike, ki si prizadevajo za lastno osvoboditev!
s feminističnim bojem proti vojnim strojem!
Posted in demo, freepalestine
nationalism and patriarchy are part of the same autocratic circle in which gender, place of birth, skin color and even language become main indicators of one's position in society. this kind of thinking is advocating for the dominance of imaginary strong men who are allegedly protecting the land and the so called female bodies. in turn the sole purpose of this objectified bodies becomes the reproduction of slaves or soldiers, however you might want to call them.
in far-right groups, we can find many people calling themselves antifeminists; however, there also seem to exist those, who describe themselves as 'identitarian feminists.' their main role seems to be sharing the hate towards refugees and other people whom their racist brains feel threatened by. these social biggots are not only "ordinary nazis" - they are politicians, business people, police officers and others holding power positions in society. state as a form is by default supporting authoritarian thinking, protection of artificial borders and is based on the devision of the proud statesman and the others.
we find it necessary to stand against the division and social positioning based of skin color, gender, age and body ability, to be loud and clear about it, and to build strong ties within our movement across all borders. despite the irony of nazis connecting internationally, this is exactly what they are doing, with the lukov march and day of honor being just some of those examples. as the invitations below state, these gatherings are becoming smaller each year, which can only mean that our efforts to support each other have a tangible effect. but there can never be enough antifascist presence and solidarity! we encourage everyone to join both manifestations and show that we will not give up despite police repression and its enforced isolation and that hateful, racist, militarist, macho ideologies have no space in our surroundings!
The denial and glorification of the crimes of the nazi past is a common phenomenon. More and more people are trying to idealise the fascist era and with that, they are betraying the future they want.Fascism brought total dictatorship, mass genocide, war and misery to humanity. Horthy, in the service of the nazi empire, forced hundreds of thousands of hungarian soldiers to participate in genocide, most of whom lost their lives in the interest of german colonialism. The nazi empire, in collaboration with the hungarian state, murdered half a million hungarian citizens using industrial methods. The nazi army plundered europe, including hungary. It dismantled factories and took them away – except for those ones that the workers prevented from being removed. The german army blew up every bridge in the country. The hungarian ’arrow cross party’, the servants of the german nazis tortured and murdered thousands of people until the last minute of the war. Their senseless military resistance left much of Budapest heavely damaged. Mass deaths and ruins were the results of the nazis’ “heroic deeds”.
In February 1945, nazi imperial troops that were trapped in the Buda castle tried to escape unsuccessfully. To commemorate this, today’s nazis, fascists, legionnaires and the ’outlaws’ of the ’outlaw army’ try to hold events in February to glorify the nazis. The area around the castle is full of people who see the nazis as heroes. They hold concerts, try to march in uniforms or pretend to be on a hike, not on a nazi commemoration. They organise the commemorative hikes specifically because they believe that the authorities cannot prevent them to gather then. The “outbreak tour” has now become the largest nazi commemoration event. The organisers of the tour receive substantial state funding, despite the fact that the tour clearly states in its description that its aim is to pay tribute to the ‘heroes’ of the nazi empire that plundered and destroyed europe. Those who take part in this tour are not only human decorations of the fascists’ plans for power today, but also present an identification with the atrocities of the ’arrow cross’ nazi regime.
By glorifying the deeds of their former predecessors, today’s nazis are presenting their own plans for the future. Those who consider the former ‘race war’ heroic want to do exactly the same now.
Never again fascism! Say no to glorifying the nazis! Stop the nazis of today!
10 February 2024, 14.30, Budapest. Széll Kálmán Square
Autonómia
2024 marks the 21st year in a row of the neo-nazi Lukovmarsh demonstration in our city of Sofia. “Lukovmarsh” is a neo-nazi torch march with big international participation. Far-right groups from all over Europe come to Sofia every year to support their local counterparts in commemorating the Bulgarian antisemite general Hristo Lukov (1887-1943) who was associated with the Third Reich. The organizers from the Bulgarian National Union (BNS) are often spotted in neo-nazi demonstrations in Poland and Italy. That is not surprising since the “guest list” of Lukovmarsh includes internationals from Spain (La Falange), Germany (NPD, Die Rechte, Der III Weg), France (Terre et peuple), Italy (CasaPound), Austria , Croatia, Poland (Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski), Romania (Nova Dreapta), Hungary, Sweden (The Nordic Front). Over the years we made sure that there was always resistance against Lukovmarsh and a counter demonstration called “No Nazis on Our Streets!”. We believe that our efforts and the international solidarity over the years have helped to make the neo-nazi torches dimmer! We continue our struggle until they completely disappear from our city, as well as in the rest of the world.
Lukovmarsh is becoming more and more associated with neo-nazis by the general public and has far less attendance! We want to warmly thank each person who has come to Sofia in solidarity with our counter demo “No Nazis on our Streets!” in the past! Your support has helped immensely!
Yet, even when Lukovmarsh is banned by the Sofia Municipality, every year neo-nazis continue to be calmly escorted by police and left to march. Never dispersed, never arrested and always protected by the authorities. At the same time, peaceful demonstrations in solidarity with the people of Palestine are banned with the threat of force, dispersed and the homes of organizers invaded by the police and the special forces.
As antifascists, we clearly see the double standard of the state. In Bulgaria, you can be an antisemitic neo-nazi but if you protest a genocide -it is deemed “antisemitism” or “terrorism” without any particular reason. As antifascists, we will continue to rise against antisemitism and the real antisemites!
As antifascists, we will not let Putin’s pretend antifascism to be the only one that is heard of.
As antifascists, we will always stand against Erdogan’s fascism and ethnic cleansing of the Kurdish people.
As antifascists and as feminists we will not leave the women of Iran alone.
As antifascists, we will always stand with migrants, who are currently facing further restrictions by the EU.
This is the ethos that “No Nazis on Our Steets!” always had and will continue to perpetuate.
To those of you who have come previous years and to those that consider coming this year – we would like to officially invite you to “No Nazis on our Streets!
2024 on the 17th of February in Sofia, Bulgaria!
Antifa Sofia/Antifa Bulgaria
the repression against antiauthoritarian actions in europe is rising as we are once again witnessing tight collaboration of european police forces framing antifascism as terrorism.one of the main aims of every government is the devision and destruction of antifascist, environmental and other antiauthoritarian struggles, since organizing from below poses a direct threat to their position of power. to keep the established order, they prosecute and imprison our comrades on selforganized acivities. such tacticts are clearly used to dismantle our connections and keep us in fear.
convictions of antifascists under special articles of 41bis in italy, s129 in germany and similar laws in france in greece, are becoming a trend which makes the prosecution of individuals and groups involved in organising easier. through such measures police gains authority to facilitate house searches, to bug communication channels and to interrogate innocent people deemed as possible suspects and accomplices in the eyes of the state. we have to fight such criminalization before these kind of practices become the norm.
we invite all of you to join the demonstraion in milan on 13th of february to show solidarity with the imprisoned, prosecuted and all those active in antifascist struggles!
SMASH ALL STATES, FREE ALL ANTIFAS!
It is evident how in the last decades, securitarian policies, segregation and exclusion measures as well as population control mechanisms have been repeatedly tightened up. This trend has been characterizing the management of the territory defined as European. At the same time, we are witnessing the strengthening of extreme right-wing positions. Organized neo-Nazi and neo-fascist groups are increasingly proliferating, well supported outside and inside the institutions
Decades of deep economic and social crises have not only crippled the poorest and most vulnerable parts of the population but have also created fertile ground for the propaganda of populist, identitarian and strongly reactionary ideas. Various political forces, more or less institutionalized, are in recent years reaping the results of this propaganda: from the growth in consensus recorded by the major European right-wing parties, such as the Rassemblement National, the Lega and Fratelli d’Italia, the AfD and Vox, to the success of street demonstrations fomented by fascists. The movement for Macedonian independence in Greece, the infiltration of fascists in several demonstrations against the Covid-19 restrictions, the recent riots in Spain against the amnesty for Catalan separatists or the racist riots that broke out in Dublin are just a few worthwhile examples.
In this context of ever more explicit and invasive oppression and the abrupt readjustment of global capitalism, those who organize to resist and to fight the violence of states, capital and their extreme right-wing watchdogs, are faced with ever more extensive and aggressive repression. In such dark times we’re living in, when the winds of war are whistling ever louder in our ears, repression of the internal enemy and social pacification emerge as priorities of all national governments.
In this general background, while the European Union is considering putting anti-fascist groups on the blacklist of those designated as terrorists, two comrades have been imprisoned in Hungary since February 2023. Both are involved in an investigation led by the Hungarian police for aggressions against neo-Nazis that reached Budapest from all over Europe during the weekend of the ‘Day of Honour’. A gathering during which the Nazis commemorate the annihilation of the German Wehrmacht by hand of the Red Army during the siege of Budapest, on the 11th of February 1945.
However, the accusatory castle of the Hungarian prosecutors is not limited to the events that took place in Budapest nor to the days of the commemoration: in the context of an increasingly close cooperation between states and European police forces, the attempt of the investigators is to link the actions that took place in Hungary to a much broader procedure opened in Germany since 2018: the so-called ‘AntifaOst’ investigation, in which several German comrades are accused of attacks against prominent members of the German neo-Nazi world. The attempt is to affirm the existence of a phantom criminal association that allegedly organized the attacks in Hungary.
For this reason, in addition to Ilaria and Tobias, who are detained in Budapest, the Hungarian public prosecutor’s office requested 14 European Arrest Warrants (EAW) against as many German, Italian, Albanian and Syrian comrades. Many of them have not been found to date.
In December Maja has been arrested in Germany and is now in prison and Gabriele, a comrade from Milan, has been under house arrest with all restrictions since November 22th, following the execution of one of these EAWs.
The trial that will evaluate his extradition request from Italy to Hungary is likely to end in January 2024, month in which the trial in Budapest against Ilaria, Tobias and a third comrade will begin.
They are variously accused of having taken part in the attacks and of being members of or knowing the supposed association that allegedly organized them.
On January the 13th we will take to the streets not only to clearly express our solidarity and proximity to the prisoners in Budapest as well as to Gabriele and the comrades who are wanted; we also want to clearly state that we have chosen a side.
We have chosen not to delegate the fight against fascists and Nazis to the democratic institutional apparatus that does nothing but defend and legitimize them in the name of a vaunted ‘freedom of expression’. We are convinced that fascists must be fought directly, at this historical moment more than ever. We claim militant practices and believe it is necessary to implement them at every latitude to stop Nazi’s groups.
Even in Italian cities, albeit less violently than in other European contexts, fascists are present and trying to raise their heads. These servants of capital, fake rebels only useful for maintaining the current social order, must be nipped in the bud!Every day in our struggles, in our paths, we choose to stand with those who oppose the bosses, those who are exploited, those who suffer repression, those who resist imperialist wars and decide to fight back, with those who do not delegate their freedom.
We choose to stand against borders, which are militarily controlled and closed, preventing those fleeing misery from finding a safer place and in fact putting their lives at risk.
The same borders that kill migrants day by day have always been the terrain of political repression and capillary control of the territory. Recently, administrative instruments have been refined, because they are faster to enforce and have a more ‘depoliticised’ form. To give just a few examples, think of the Italian comrades detained in Paris and repatriated at the beginning of June on the occasion of the commemoration of Clement Meric, or oThe trial that will evaluate his extradition request from Italy to Hungary is likely to f the dozens of comrades blocked at the border with a ban on entering the french territory for the No Tav demonstration in Val Maurienne at the end of June, or of the apparently ‘lifelong’ bans on entering France notified following the big day of struggle against the mega reservoir in Saint Soline on March, 25th. While these examples show us an increasingly heavy-handed control of political dissent and very close cooperation between European police forces, at the same time we are witnessing an increasingly unscrupulous and ‘effective’ use of instruments such as EAWs.
We are for acting in the first person, not delegating our struggles to institutions and the state that accept everything that falls within their paradigm of democracy and appeasement by trying to wipe their faces with fine words that only remain words.
A world free of fascism and fascists is possible, it is up to us to build it.
FREEDOM FOR ILARIA, TOBIAS, MAJA AND GABRIELE!
SOLIDARITY WITH THE COMRADES AND COMRADES UNDER INVESTIGATION AND ON THE RUN!
FREEDOM FOR ALL!
Posted in soli
1312 is gone. it has been more than a month since the first machinery arrived. walls, rooftops and furniture are by now all grinded to dust and scattered around the lot.
we did not know the exact date when they would demolish our part. nonetheless, we organised an eviction fest, one last collective gathering with the aim to give away everything we had not been able to move to the other spaces and celebrate all that had happened in the times before. our squat was still standing the day after the eviction fest. and the next. a fence was mounted around us, but our building remained intact. meanwhile, in athens, two squats were evicted – Ano Kato and Zizania. in solidarity, we raised a banner against gentrification, evictions and for the creation of new squats in our deserted space.
the construction site expanded. the walls began to fall. with each passing day we could see more and more of the destroyed leftovers of things that had previously been part of our space. we threw bottles and ceramic plates at the excavators and the target of the ljubljana mayor zoran jankovic. it was symbolic, like a protest or a physical defence of a space could be, but which never happened. we left without resistance, we weren’t there. one of the reasons is that we see the very act of squatting as resistance. we decided to reduce the chances of repression and to open up new spaces rather than defend the ones we knew from the start would not last forever. yet we missed the moment of catharsis that comes from direct physical confrontation with the authorities. maybe that moment is still there for us?
in short, mačjak is no longer.
P1312 ni več. strehe, stene in pohištvo ležijo na parceli zmleti v prah. od prve prispele mašinerije je minilo že več kot en mesec.
nismo vedele natančenga datuma, ko bodo porušili naš del. vseeno smo pripravile evikcijski festival, še zadnje skupinsko druženje katerega namen je bil meddrugim podariti vse česar nam ni uspelo spraviti v druge prostore. prostor je nato stal še naslednji dan. in še naslednji. okoli nas so postavili ograjo, vendar je stavba v kateri smo bile, ostala nedotaknjena. medtem so v Atenah eviktirali dva skvota – Ano Kato in Zizanio. solidarno smo v našem izpraznjenem prostoru dvignile transparent proti gentrifikaciji, za obstoj že vzpostavljenih skvotov in za nastanek novih.
stene so začele padati. gradbišče se je razširilo. kot počasi napredujočo bolezen, smo z vsakim dnem lahko opazovale vse več uničenih reči, ki so bile prej del našega prostora. steklenice in krožnike smo zmetale v bagre in tarčo zorana jankoviča. simbolno, kot bi bil simbolen protest ali fizična obramba prostora, ki se nista nikoli zgodila. ob evikciji smo odšle brez upora, sploh nas ni bilo tam. eden od razlogov je ta, da vidimo samo dejanje skvotiranja kot upor. odločile smo se, da zmanjšamo možnosti represije in da raje odpiramo nove prostore, kot branimo tiste, za katere smo že od začetka vedele, da ne bodo trajali za vedno. kljub temu nam je zmanjkal trenutnek katarze, ki ga prinese direktna fizična konfrontacija z oblastmi. morda pa ta trenutek za nas še pride?
skratka, mačjaka ni več.