Под окриљем Светског савета за мир (World Peace Council), у организацији Британске скупштине за мир (British Peace Assembly), а у координацији са Португалским саветом за мир и сарадњу (Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation), одржан је регионални састанак европских организација - чланова Светског савета за мир, у суботу, 26. маја 2018. године у Лондону.

Београдски форум за свет равноправних представљала је Сандра Давидовић, докторанткиња Факултета политичких наука у Београду и чланица Управног одбора Београдског форума. На састанку су учествовали представници организација из више од 15 европских држава (Велика Британија, Португалија, Грчка, Швајцарска, Немачка, Ирска, Шпанија, Италија, Кипар, Турска, Белгија и др.), укључујући и госте из САД, као и са Блиског Истока. У конструктивној атмосфери, учесници сасатанка разменили су информације о протеклим активностима, као и предстојећим иницијативама и плановима. На састанку је изражена заједничка забринутост поводом растућег тренда милитаризације Европе и света, агресивне ратне реторике, хистеричне пропаганде, као и једностраних војних мера који стварају атмосферу страхa и неизвесности. Размењена су мишљења и о предстојећим активностима Савета, на Кипру, у Бриселу и у Даблину.

Представница Форума је указала на актуелне безбедносне проблеме у региону Балкана, посебно проблем Косова и Метохије и у том контексту подсетила да се наредне године обележава 20. годишњица од почетка агресије НАТО на Србију (СРЈ) и формирања НАТО војне базе ,,Бондстил'' на територији Србије, без пристанка домаћих власти. С тим у вези, састанак је искоришћен за упознавање Светског савета за мир са активностима у вези са припремом велике међународне конференције Београдског форума, којом ће бити обележна ова годишњица, као и за анимирање свих мировних организација за што шире учешће и подршку у овој иницијативи Београдског форума.

У наставку је текст њеног излагања на енглеском:

World Peace Council
WPC European member organizations meeting
London, May 2018

           Dear friends and comrades,
           Ladies and gentlemen,

    Allow me to begin with warmest greetings on behalf of the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals and to convey our sincere appreciation for this initiative to organise today’s regional meeting of European members of the World Peace Council. I am especially grateful to the hosts of this significant gathering for their successful organization and hospitability. As an independent, non-profit and non-partisan organisation committed to the peace, the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals finds this meeting to be a convenient occasion that provides constructive atmosphere for exchanging thoughts on our joint activities in the struggle for peace, as the peace is getting increasingly endangered by the forces of imperialism and domination.

    This is also a fine opportunity to recall the successful and constructive cooperation between the Belgrade Forum and the World Peace Council, whose activities strengthened the Council’s reputation and influence in the world and, as such, became an irreplaceable platform for rallying all organisations and individuals genuinelly committed to peace, justice and equality. The Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals gives our full support to all initiatives the WPC raised, as we find them timely and particularly important for all of us.

    Just like in previous years, the Belgrade Forum has been working intensively to promote the idea of peace and equality, both in Serbia and abroad, with a view to contributing to the critical reviewing of the ongoing political processes and the spreading of truth at the times of universally prevailing propaganda, war rhetoric, and global tensions. We share a huge concern of all peace movements caused by the growing trend of militarisation of Europe and indeed the entire world. War rhetoric, hysterical propaganda, unilateral military measures and global uncertainty, combined, leave no room for indifference of any person. The arms race, not dissimilar to one at times of the Cold War -- as evidenced by SIPRI data that world military expenditure has risen to $1,739 billion in 2017, with an upward trend – is an imminent threat to global peace and security. All this was followed by the transformation of economy in Europe, from civilian to military, namely, by the trend of militarisation of the entire system of the EU. Europe has become a channelled direction of NATO action, as revealed by intensive tendencies to establish European military, primarily by means of establishing the Permanent Structured Cooperation that envisages the increase of military budgets and the Member States’ coordinated cooperation with NATO actions in its drive to the East. Once a peace project, as the European Union has defined itself, nowadays its military component is becoming ever more visible. This shift should be viewed in the context of geostrategic ambitions of the USA and NATO, rather than as a stand-alone response of the Brussels administration to security threats to the Continent. This aligning of European capabilities to the military needs is the outcome of a subservient attitude of Brussels administration vis-à-vis the USA and NATO. The Balkana, acting as a precise seismologist of global changes, has invariably been the stage in which such changes could be felt most accurately. Given the price paid by Serbia in World War II, we are particularly concerned that these trends are coupled by increasingly widespread revival of Fascism and Nazism, especially in Europe.

    We hold that the present global instability and degradation of the principles of the international system have their roots in NATO military aggression against Serbia (the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) of 1999. Expansive spreading of NATO military potential Eastwards began with this aggression and the establishment of the US military Camp “Bondsteel” erected on a part of Serbian territory devoid of consent of the home authorities, after the end of the aggression and forcible occupation of Kosovo and Metohija. The establishment of this camp, one of largest US military camps in the world, has triggered formation of other military bases in Europe, such as: four US camps in Bulgaria, four in Romania, and thereafter in Poland, Czech Republic, and the Baltic states. This is why we are extremely concerned by recent information that instead of closure, plans are to expand Camp “Bondsteel” most notably by constructing a military airport and by substantial increasing of landing capacities for military helicopters, thus making this base fit to serve as a coordinating centre for other US/NATO bases in this part of the world. This all compels us to constantly remind of NATO aggression on Serbia, because understanding this aggression is the key to understanding the continuity of intensified escalation in international relations, the purpose of the military build-up at the East of Europe, of an accelerated militarization and proliferation of military bases, unilateral military campaigns in the Middle East, under a series of false pretexts. The analysis of NATO aggression against Serbia helps better understand why the world of today is in the single most unstable state of affairs since WWII, abounding with tensions, deeply rooted distrust and overall fear.

    With all these extremely dangerous processes and phenomena, the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals sincerely welcomes initiative to create Global Coalition against US/NATO Military Bases.   With our congratulation to this very important initiative, we fully support and subscribe to it, and we intend to give our input to the common efforts.

    Please allow me to use this venue to inform you that last March, within the marking of 19th anniversary of NATO aggression on Serbia, the Belgrade Forum sent public Appeal for Peace, which was met with great attention of both domestic and international public. Further, the Belgrade Forum requested the closure of Camp “Bondsteel” and other military bases, since all developments that unfolded over the recent years in the Balkans demonstrated that NATO is not a partner for peace but rather a direct threat to the peace and stability of the region. In addition, the Belgrade Forum has recently endorsed the Appeal for Moratorium on Military Exercises with NATO during 2019, in a gesture honouring all civilian and military victims of 78-day NATO aggression, and submitted to relevant state authorities of Serbia. We intend to keep you informed in more detail about all the above in the coming period, so to enable you to support the Forum in our plans to dedicate the next year not only to marking the 20th anniversary of NATO aggression on Serbia but also to take is as an additional impulse in our joint efforts in the struggle against the expansionist US/NATO strategy, against their policy of domination and endangering peace and security.

    19 years since NATO aggression, the leading members of this Treaty continue the original aggression with other means. Key members of both NATO and EU are sponsors of unilateral secession of Kosovo of 2008, they were the first ones to recognize this illegal act, and ever since they seek to steal a part of Serbia’s territory to create another Albanian state in the Balkans, as a stepping stone to the creation of Greater Albania. Nowadays, the additional request these countries demand from Serbia is to accept a deal by trading the recognition of Kosovo for a promise of a possible EU membership. It is most cynical to offer such deal to Serbia, despite five EU member states have not, and do not intend to, recognize Kosovo. The ongoing negotiation format for resolving the Kosovo issue, unfolding under the Brussels auspices, is being misused for the expansion of geopolitical interests of the mightiest members of EU plus the USA, to the detriment of the Serbian people. The evidence thereof is almost two decades long preventing the expelled Serbs and other non-Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija to exercise their universal human right to free, safe, and dignified return to their homes, to their legally guaranteed property.

    The Belgrade Forum advocates the reverting the process of resolving this complex problem to the framework of fundamental principles of international law and the UN Charter, namely, within the framework of the United Nations and UNSCR 12244. We are convinced that only thus brokered resolution is capable of preserving peace and stability in the Balkans, and of creating structural preconditions for a safe and prosperous development of the region.

    I am also using this opportunity to inform you that the Belgrade Forum has already started preparations for the marking of 20th anniversary of NATO aggression on Serbia next March. The central event of these activities is going to be International Conference on 22 March 2019 in Belgrade.  The basic information about this conference and other activities are contained in the preliminary invitation you received. We hold it vital that, on this occasion, from Serbia as the victim of the aggression and of the first war waged in Europe after WWII, should be circulated strong messages voicing energetic appeals for peace, for the observance of the fundamental principles of international law, for equality, for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that underpin the contemporary international order.

    Peace and progress in Europe and the world are presently endangered more than ever before since the end of World War II. The sources of menace are the imperialistic centres of power which refuse to accept the loss of their privileges and the end of a unipolar world order. This is why is necessary to redouble our efforts, and reinforce our unity and coordination, to help the humanity stand against the neo-Fascist and neo-colonial trends. The Belgrade Forum stands ready to provide its full support to this endeavour.
    Thank you.
Sandra Davidović,

Member of the Steering Board of the Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals