International convoy seeks to boost solidarity with Ukraine from the bottom up

Alfons Bech is the International Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (INSU) trade union coordinator and a member of the Coordination Group of the International Solidarity Convoy to Ukraine, organising its southern route from Barcelona to Kyiv.

Green Left’s Dick Nichols spoke to Bech about the convoy’s goals and organisation.

Where did the idea of the convoy come from?

It emerged on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion [February 22, 2024], when the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU, now INSU) proposed organising a large international delegation of trade unionists to an event in Kyiv that the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine (FPU) and the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine prepared with the support of the European Trade Union Confederation.

Trade unions participated in very large numbers, but online. Only one delegation went to Kyiv, representing the Catalan affiliate of the all-Spanish General Union of Workers (UGT).

The UGT delegation was very shocked by what they saw, but very pleased to have been there in person. They saw the devastation Russia had caused in Bucha and in the neighbourhoods of Kyiv, took part in the distribution of some material aid and got to know a little about Ukrainian culture.

From this, a sort of twinning has developed between the UGT and Ukrainian trade unions, which has been key to our understanding of this war and to the aid effort for Ukraine in Catalonia.

Many aid convoys have already gone to Ukraine. What makes this one different?

This convoy is building on what has already been done at the grassroots level in terms of aid to Ukraine. Nonetheless, this convoy takes place at a crucial moment for Ukraine and Europe.

We are entering the fifth year of a brutal war, and it is not clear how much further attacks the country’s already heavily damaged infrastructure can withstand.

The experience of the past four years shows Ukrainian workers will continue to suffer greatly from always having to repair infrastructure under enemy fire. Russia, conscious of this situation, is preparing to attack even more forcefully what is essential to the survival of the population: energy, cities, hospitals, schools, the bridges of Kyiv, the water supply and the sewerage system

It is a genocidal plan. But it is not being implemented because Russia is doing well in the war or economically. [Vladimir] Putin’s regime faces many difficulties, and these are translating into savage attacks on Ukraine’s civilian population and more repression within Russia.

In this situation of extreme need, we know that any help the convoy can provide, while useful, will be a drop in the ocean.

That is one potent reason why the convoy must have an extra, political, dimension, as a public and visible show of support from the working people of the rest of Europe to their sisters and brothers in Ukraine.

It repeats the cry of the Spanish Civil War, ¡No Pasaran! (They shall not pass!) against today’s enemies of human and democratic rights and their chief guarantor, the majority of working people.

We, in Catalonia, cannot bear to see in Ukraine a repeat of the Spanish Republic’s fate, which was abandoned in the face of international fascism. That treachery by great “civilised” powers intent on appeasing [Adolf] Hitler and [Benito] Mussolini cost the peoples of the Spanish state forty years of fascism.

It is why we in INSU see the need for the sort of sharp expansion of solidarity action that the convoy represents — it is not enough for us to just carry on doing what we have been doing up to now.

What the convoy offers is not only humanitarian or material aid. It is also an instrument for showing that boosted solidarity with Ukraine starts from the bottom up.

This is not just a message about getting more and bigger donations, but of raising awareness about what the overall effort of solidarity with Ukraine must involve.

One critically important example: it is urgent Ukraine receive the €210 billion in frozen Russian assets held by Western financial institutions, such as Euroclear, to fund its defence effort.

While most European governments are looking for ways to cut social spending and increase military spending, these same governments are reluctant to declare the kind of financial war on the Kremlin that would be involved in releasing these assets to Ukraine.

The convoy will be a platform for this and other important messages.

What organisations are supporting the convoy?

As of early October, a growing number of trade union organisations, social movements and elected representatives from 20 countries have officially supported the convoy.

Trade union support includes the FPU, the Swiss Trade Union Federation, the Brazilian Trade Union and Popular Centre Conlutas, the General Labour Federation of Belgium, the Belgian Confederation of Christian Trade Unions, the UGT of Catalonia, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the University and College Union of the United Kingdom and the Theatre and Performing Arts Trade Union of Norway.

It is also supported by more than 20 political organisations and parties spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, and more than 40 MPs and public representatives, including 18 Members of the European Parliament.

More than 50 solidarity associations, NGOs and independent media outlets have also expressed support. All of this can be found on the convoy’s website, which we update weekly as the number of organisations and volunteers grows.

The convoy has launched its own fund appeal. Where is it at?

The convoy’s central fund appeal “Generators and Stoves to Ukraine” is now [October 19] approaching 30% of its €100,000 target, after a bit more than a month of serious effort.

This shows the initiative is reaching a broader audience of people who want to do something for Ukraine.

What is the convoy planning to take to Ukraine?

The main “cargo” will be generators, wood-burning stoves, medical supplies, electrical equipment that cannot be sourced in Ukraine and vehicles.

We will provide humanitarian aid, supplying whatever we can of the requests received from Ukrainian organisations.

What impact, if any, do you expect the convoy to have inside Ukraine?

The convoy, while supporting Ukraine’s rights and its resistance in general, also looks to help strengthen trade unions and civil society organisations inside Ukraine and make them more visible in the rest of Europe.

That is why we stand with workers’ unions, student unions, nurses’ unions and railway unions when the Ukrainian government attacks their rights.

We hope the arrival of the convoy will demonstrate that there is support from workers in the rest of Europe for Ukrainian workers and trade unions.

Can solidarity with Palestine go with solidarity with Ukraine?

The convoy does not require participants to take a position on Palestine, but my personal response is: “Yes, it should.” Both peoples are victims of ruthless attacks by aggressive colonialist powers that want to lay hold of their wealth and, moreover, root out their very culture.

The key difference is that Ukraine has a real state while Palestine does not. That is why Ukraine can defend itself much better than the Palestinians. But the underlying problem, which is the right to self-determination of nations, is identical.

By being passive or indifferent about either oppressed nation, you effectively offer support to their oppressor. That is why we in INSU go to demonstrations for both Ukraine and Palestine with a banner that says: “From Ukraine to Palestine, occupation is a crime.”

What final message would you give to anyone reading this interview? Why should they support this convoy?

This convoy is an opportunity for everyone who wants to do something to end a horrendously cruel invasion on just terms.

For everyone who has no trouble recognising that this aggression was started by Putin, not NATO, and who want to do something to support Ukrainians’ just resistance.

For everyone who does not want to be on the wrong side of history or have their conscience scarred by the thought of having done nothing until the war was over.

[Abridged from Links — International Journal of Socialist Renewal. Donate to the International Solidarity Convoy to Ukraine Fund Appeal here.]