On 20-21 September, PQI secretary Tobias Ljungvall took part in the World Public Assembly held in Moscow. This event gathered thousands of participants from all over the world, although Western Europe and especially Scandinavia was modestly represented. His impressions of the event were generally positive. Given the controversy surrounding any contacts with Russia he has authored a debate article (in Swedish) about his participation that can be read on the website lindelof.nu. Anyone curious about the experience can also listen to his 90-minute deepdive with the Dissident podcast (also in Swedish). Furthermore, he will share his impressions at a live event organized by the Network for non-alignment and peace at Uppsala ABF 28 October 19:00 hrs.

Expenses for travel and accomodation were covered by the organizers. At the assembly, Tobias made the following presentation during a roundtable on public diplomacy.

Dear fellow participants,

I have the honor to represent no less than two Swedish organizations. Honestly, a few years back I myself would not have expected this. I used to be part of the highly critical human rights community which, unfortunately, has turned out to be a destructive force. Given this personal background I was not even sure I would get a visa to come to this event. Anyway, let’s get to the two organizations.

The first one is the Swedish-Russian friendship society, which is the reason I was given the opportunity to attend this assembly and to speak to you. The society received an invitation and asked me to go, despite me being a fairly new member of its board.

The society was formed in 2016 but has a pre-history dating back to 1935, and during Soviet times interest for it was quite large. According to its statutes it is to “conduct informational-educational and cultural activities to promote good relations on all levels between Sweden and the Russian Federation and also to strengthen the friendship between the Swedish and Russian neighboring peoples. This also serves the purpose of strengthening the peace that for over two-hundred years has lasted between our countries and to secure continued peaceful relations.”

The society has more than two-hundred members. Among them are people with family ties to Russia, people who have emigrated from here, and also people who during Soviet times came to sympathize with our host nation for ideological or other reasons – for its sacrifice and defeat of fascism in the Second world war and for its scientific and cultural accomplishments. For me personally, it was the importance of preserved peace that made me join the society at the beginning of last year.

The second organization I am representing is a foundation called PeaceQuest International. Its history goes back to 1983 and an initiative called Co-operation for peace. The word “peacequest” was first used to describe the journey of a group of Swedish, American and Soviet youth visiting each other’s countries. The scope of this and similar activities was quite large and in 1991 the secretary-general of the United Nations officially designated it “Peace Messenger”. The initiative’s founder, mister Valentin Sevéus, received the diploma from the hands of the under-secretary general and Soviet diplomat Vasily Safronchuk.

PeaceQuest’s present is quite more modest than its past. It’s current chairman, professor Greg Simons, asked me if I could join and breathe some new life into it. Which I am now trying to do. Some of you may recognize Greg. Non-Western media often asks him to comment on world news and he usually takes a very critical view of the West. I also try to raise my voice sometimes, for example against the establishment of American military bases in Sweden.

However, the current opinion climate in Sweden leaves little room for discussion about anything other than Russia’s malevolence. Last week Russia’s ambassador was actually given the opportunity to defend his country on Swedish television. But with years of indoctrination – and a rather aggressive reporter – I don’t think he was understood by many viewers.

Still, we who question established truths do not yet risk criminal persecution, which I understand is sometimes the case here in Russia. If the current trajectory of rising tension continues maybe we too will get there. Until then we shall continue to exercise our freedom of speech to the extent that it is possible. Thank you. Spasibo.