By World BEYOND War, September 5, 2024
On Monday, 26 August, a group of Finnish advocates for peace met at Oodi Library in Helsinki.
Among those attending were:
Mikael Böök from the No Bases Campaign
Ulla Klötzer from Women for Peace and Global Women for Peace United Against NATO
Claus Montonen from Technology for Life and ICAN Finland
Päivi Huttunen from No Bases Campaign
Ahti Tolvanen from Finnish Quakers
Pirkko Turpeinen-Saari from Naapuriseura.fi and WILPF Finland
Liisa Taskinen from The Communist Party of Finland
Al Mytty (from the United States), World BEYOND War
Mikael Böök welcomed people and introduced Al Mytty. Al provided some background information about World BEYOND War and mentioned that he is Co-coordinator of Illinois for a World BEYOND War. The goal of World BEYOND War is to abolish all wars and establish a just and sustainable peace. He encouraged folks to attend the #NoWar2024 conference and acknowledged that the conference is on the same days as Ulla’s upcoming St. Petersburg conference.
Other attendees then introduced themselves and described their involvement in a wide variety of peace efforts.
Mika Böök then showed a description of the USA’s Military Empire: A Visual Database. Mika was encouraged to publicize this information in Finland. A discussion followed about how to achieve better press and media coverage.
There was discussion about how to involve younger people in the work to end war and prevent war. Al Mytty noted that World BEYOND War has many young people leading the efforts in various countries in Africa, South America, Canada and elsewhere.
It was also noted that peace groups need to find ways to ally with others in Finland so their voices can be amplified.
Ulla Klötzer described the upcoming 20-22 September conference in St. Petersburg. She is busy working on the agenda, speakers, visas, etc. for that conference. David Swanson of World BEYOND War has agreed to provide some opening comments.
There was grave concern expressed about the Defense Cooperation agreement that was recently “unanimously and anonymously” approved by Parliament. People voiced concerns about a permanent US military presence in Finland, increased weapons and troops in Finland, the possibility of nuclear weapons in Finland, and the environmental damage that will occur. Those present were aware of successful efforts by the local populations in Montenegro and Ecuador to resist US military bases.
Al Mytty suggested a possible webinar to include a panel discussion of Finnish peace advocates. The webinar would focus on how Finnish peace advocates view the accession of Finland to NATO, the Defense Cooperation Agreement, de-escalating the tensions with Russia, etc., and would allow people from other countries to hear viewpoints that otherwise are not being heard in the mainstream media.
It is hoped that the group meeting here will continue to meet and develop ways so that peace efforts in Finland and those opposed to NATO, the US military base empire, nuclear weapons, and the environmental destruction caused by militarism, can speak with a unified voice.
