Generation Engagée, the youth of the Engagés (ex-CDH) announces in La Libre this Friday its decision “to leave” the CNAPD (National Coordination of Action for Peace and Democracy), a dome which coordinates youth organizations and progressive lifelong education movements.
This dome notably organized the march on Sunday, February 26, for peace in Ukraine, in which the young Engagés say they refused to participate.
”Our visions of society and our struggles have become irreconcilable”, assures Ismaël Nuino, national president of Génération Engagée. “For several days, the CNAPD has been implicated following the organization of a demonstration, the day following another organized on the same subject: the support of the Ukrainian people in the face of the Russian invasion. It is with good reason that this second manifestation has been called into question. Many pro-Russian and anti-NATO groups joined the demonstration and put forward totally inappropriate slogans.”
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Members of the CSO (NATO Monitoring Committee) participated in two of the preparatory meetings for the demonstration from the start, before dissociating themselves from the overall message conveyed by the CNAPD, deemed too critical of Russia.. They nevertheless did participate in the Sunday demonstration.
”It is legitimate to question the CNAPD, not only as the organizer of this demonstration, but also for its call for the demonstration and the speech of its co-president delivered during it. The call to demonstrate explained that the European sanctions measures were “largely “the causes of the energy crisis and rising energy bills. He also condemned the continuous escalation of the logic of war, also from Belgium and European countries…’ They also spoke of NATO as ‘of arsonists who now claim to put out the fire they helped to start’.
Ismaël Nuino specifies that “all these allegations are serious, misleading and are in no way endorsed by Génération Engagée. This is also why we decided not to sign the call to demonstrate on February 26 and why we did not participate in this demonstration.
“The CNAPD is unable to firmly and clearly denounce the sole responsibility of Vladimir Putin and Russia in this conflict” and “continues to point to NATO as responsible for the conflict in Ukraine“
Despite an attempt at conciliation by the CNAPD, the young Engagés say to themselves “forced to see that the differences are too great” car “the CNAPD is incapable of denouncing firmly and clearly the sole responsibility of Vladimir Putin and Russia in this conflict” and “continues to designate NATO as responsible for the conflict in Ukraine”.
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The young Engagés have not yet informed the CNAPD of their departure.
In The Free, Samuel Legros, of the CNAPD, had specified that the message of the demonstration was centered on the condemnation of the Russian aggression and the request for a ceasefire.. He had also assured that solidarity with the Ukrainian people was “total” despite different modes of action, compared to the demonstration on Saturday. “The escalation continues […] will have ever more disastrous and potentially apocalyptic consequencesinsisted the ASBL. All diplomatic means must be deployed to initiate de-escalation and bring the warring parties to a ceasefire.”