Vitaliy Dudin
(Edited machine translation) Brussels: Leftist solidarity with Ukraine at a new level The delegation of Social Movement (Sotsialnyi Rukh, SR) attended the international conference ‘Solidarity with Ukraine - Support for the National and Social Rights of the Ukrainian People’, which took place on 26-27 March 2025 in Brussels (Belgium). For the first time since the beginning of full-scale Russian aggression, this event brought together a wide range of consistent internationalists from Europe and beyond. It was attended by representatives of the European Parliament and American, European and Ukrainian socialist and trade union movements. The event showed that the left is at the forefront of international solidarity with Ukraine against the Putin and Trump regimes, and inspired further struggle for a Ukrainian society free of oligarchy.
The two-day conference was organised by the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine and Against War (ENSU), the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign (England and Wales) and the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign (Scotland), with the support of left-wing organisations and trade unions from across Europe, as well as numerous social movements from Ukraine. At the beginning of the conference, MEP Jonas Sjösted (Sweden), Senator Tanya Vyhovski (Vermont, USA), co-founder of SR Vitaliy Dudin (Ukraine), IndustriALL General Secretary Judith Kirton-Darling (UK) took the floor and the event was moderated by former British MEP Julie Ward.
In his speech, Vitaliy Dudin stressed that in the fight against Russia as the most aggressive authoritarian state, the Ukrainian people are defending democracy for themselves and others. This armed resistance is part of the global struggle for social and political freedoms. The strength of the Ukrainian resistance depends on international solidarity and justice at home. Over the past three years, a powerful activist network of solidarity has been built, which is already helping to consolidate the efforts of states to provide military assistance to Ukraine. However, in the current environment, without democratising its government and socialising its economy, Ukraine risks gradually losing its sovereignty. The existing oligarchic capitalism obviously does not meet the needs of the Ukrainian people and hinders the victory over the aggressor. We, the Ukrainian left, need international support as never before to make the long-overdue progressive transformations in Ukraine possible!
The viewpoint of SR was also presented by Council member Oleksandr Kyselov (Malmö), student activist Mikhail Mustafin (Berlin), as well as Victoria Mischenko and Yana Bondarieva (Kryvyi Rih).
The events took place at De Markten and De Pianofabriek venues, and were accompanied by an invitation to the European Parliament, an evening of Ukrainian songs, and a final meeting at the Free University of Brussels (ULB). According to the organisers, up to 200 people from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia (anti-war activists who support Ukraine), Georgia, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Poland, Montenegro, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Spain, the United Kingdom (England, Scotland and Wales), Ireland, Taiwan, Australia, the United States and Canada took part in the event both live and online.
Its speakers and participants were representatives of various initiatives from Ukraine (Social Movement, Solidarity Collectives, Medical Movement ‘Be Like Us’), Catalonia (ERC, Catalunya en Comu-Sumar )and the revolutionary socialists of La Aurora), from France (Les Ecologistes, New Anti-Capitalist Party), the UK (activists of the Labour Party, Scottish National Party, Workers' Liberty), Norway (Rødt) and Germany (Die Linke). The position of such trade unions as the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, the European Trade Union Confederation, the International Federation of Trade Unions IndustriAll, UGT (Spain), FSU-Solidaires (France), and the Trade Union Confederation (UK) was presented. Li Andersson, Chair of the European Parliament's Social Policy Committee and leader of the Finnish Left Alliance, took part in the discussions.
The speakers emphasised that despite the US administration's statements to end the war, the Russian military continues to inflict significant damage with missiles and drones. The Ukrainian people do not believe in the prospects of securing at least a temporary ceasefire through an agreement between Putin and Trump, let alone that such a deal would lead to a sustainable peace. By pretending to be peaceful, Trump has actually weakened support for Ukraine and encouraged the aggressor to commit new crimes. That is why the Ukrainian people are forced to continue their struggle. It is fundamental for progressive forces that this struggle should be seen as part of the struggle against imperialism waged by the Palestinians and other peoples of the world. The complexity of Ukraine's position in the new geopolitical reality was revealed in his speech by Oleksandr Kyselov, a member of the Council of the European Union.
Magical thinking - whether about peace or justice - will not ensure Ukraine's survival. The exhaustion of our people is real, but it does not mean that we want to live under occupation. Victory today is about preserving the country—not through illusions, but through pragmatic steps to strengthen our resilience. “The ceasefire has broad support and can be useful if it gives us the time we need, but Putin's conditions are an existential threat,” said Oleksandr Kyselov in his speech. “We have seen how dangerous it is to rely on one, albeit powerful, but unreliable ally. So we need to build our internal strength first and foremost. However, real security is only possible through full European Union membership—provided Europe is wise enough to seize the opportunity to become stronger and more democratic, and provided the left takes its role in this seriously, going beyond narrowly national issues.”
In the context of the domestic political situation in Ukraine, the specific impact of martial law was discussed: on the one hand, many democratic freedoms are restricted, and on the other hand, the state has carte blanche to take radical measures to de-oligarchise the economy (but it does not use this opportunity). Citizens want clear answers whether the state will take care of their social protection as a top priority alongside security issues. The return of millions of people to Ukraine depends on this. Given the uncertainty of the next election date, it is necessary to expand the range of issues that civil society organisations and movements can address. Left-wing and trade union forces are turning back neoliberal attempts to shift even more of the burden of the war onto working people, although this is difficult in the absence of left-wing parties in politics.
The left-wing political economist Yulia Yurchenko made a series of extremely informative presentations on an alternative vision of post-war reconstruction in Ukraine. The basis of such a policy, which would be in the interests of the majority of the population, should be based on wealth taxation, financing of employment in the care sector and economic development following the increase in wages (wage-led growth). Oksana Slobodiana, leader of the Be Like Us Medical Movement, spoke about the problems of Ukrainian nurses and their readiness to join the struggle for progressive social transformations.
As a result of the discussion, the following promising topics for campaigns were identified
- Highlighting the threats posed by the collusion of US and Russian imperialism in the form of the impoverishment of Ukraine and violation of democratic principles around the world;
- Cancellation of Ukraine's foreign debt and confiscation of 200 billion euros of Russian assets frozen in the EU for the benefit of the Ukrainian people;
- Strengthening Ukraine's defence capability by socialising the defence industry and transferring the property of Ukrainian oligarchs to public needs;
- Resistance to neoliberal reforms (draft Labour Code of Ukraine) and protection of labour rights, especially in the healthcare and other critical infrastructure sectors.
For more details on the current demands of the SR, see the latest political statement “Save the country, not the oligarchs! A call for changes that will prevent Ukraine's defeat”.
SR would like to express its gratitude to the organisers of the conference 3Solidarity with Ukraine - Support for the National and Social Rights of the Ukrainian People’, which was held at such a high level. Their efforts made it possible to hear the voice of the Ukrainian left, to recharge our batteries in the struggle for justice and to imagine what else can be done for Ukraine at the level of individual states, the European Union and the world as a whole. We are looking forward to the moment when such an international event will be possible in Ukraine, and all obstacles to the implementation of socially-oriented reconstruction (in particular, imperial aggression and neoliberal policies) will disappear!
Vitaliy Dudin, Social Movement