As citizens and as civil society, we will continue to be mobilised until democracy prevails. Our European chain of democracy is here to stay.
#Tyranny symbol free
This year’s action week of Democracy under Pressure is coming to an end but our commitment to free and independent Ukraine and Belarus, to democracy, peace and rule of law is not. To a new year of standing up for democracy! We published articles and press releases and sent handwritten letters to Belarusian and Russian political prisoners. We worked with our old and new partners while our sections collaborated with each other and other associations, youth political parties and universities at the local, regional and national levels. We raised awareness on democracy and the situation in some countries through online and in person events, a twitter chat, street interviews, videos and social media campaigns in Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia and many others. We gagged statues and organised street actions all over Europe in Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, United Kingdom and beyond. In particular, we had the privilege to host VESNA, our partner organisation, listen directly to one of their democracy activists and get their help extending our letter writing action to Russian political prisoners.ĭuring the action week, JEFers built a European chain of democracy across the continent both literally and figuratively. This year, we kicked off our campaign together during our Federal Committee in Malta with an event centred around the personal stories of young activists from Russia, Greece, Hungary and Moldova. Since last year, it is no longer only under pressure but under attack, as symbolised by the subtitle of our campaign. As we believe an attack on the Rule of Law in one country is an attack on our own, the action was rebranded in 2014 as Democracy under Pressure. On the continent as a whole, we have seen dictatorships strengthen their grip over citizens, and numerous stains appear even on the fabrics of ‘stable’ democracies. In recent years however, the EU has not been the beacon of values that we want it to be.
#Tyranny symbol for free
All over Europe, we hope today for Free Belarus, for restored peace in an independent Ukraine on track to EU accession and to finally see our Union stand constantly at the forefront of the defence of human rights, democracy and peace, both internally and externally, as it ought to be.īuilding a European chain of democracy for our 18th edition!
Since then, year after year, JEF has been raising awareness of the state of democracy and standing up and speaking up for those who are silenced.įreedom day, celebrated by the Belarusian opposition every 25 March, commemorates the independence of Belarus and is a day of hope for all those standing with Free Belarus. At the time, we were one of the very few organisations raising the topic in the media and with the citizens. That year, JEF started the “Free Belarus” action to raise awareness about the Lukashenka regime, often considered “the last dictatorship in Europe”. This day is symbolic of our longstanding stance for Free Belarus, sadly still as relevant today as when we started in 2006. Today 25 March we conclude our annual Democracy under Pressure campaign. Like last year, we celebrate together, advocating for the core values of what JEF stands for: peace, rule of law and democracy. The unofficial Freedom day in Belarus celebrated every year by the democratic opposition marks the last day of our Democracy under Pressure campaign as well as our anniversary.
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