From September 16 to October 2, 2024, our member, Tamara Lorincz, was in Russia. In Saint Petersburg, Tamara attended the three-day Eurasian Women’s Forum and the BRICS Women’s Meeting with 2,000 women from 126 countries. The theme of the meeting was “Women Strengthening Trust and Cooperation.” At the forum, Tamara represented the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) and had the support of WILPF Canada and WILPF US. She gave a presentation on “Making the Arctic a Zone of Peace and Cooperation.” Tamara also attended and spoke at the two-day Conference “Peace, Nature and Cooperation in the Baltic and Arctic Regions” that was held to mark International Peace Day. She spoke about VOW and WILPF’s work to make the Arctic a zone of peace. She also met a professor from Saint Petersburg State University to talk about Arctic security and academic collaboration.
Then, Tamara went to Moscow for a week for several meetings. She spoke at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, MGIMO University. She had a meeting at the Canadian Embassy to appeal to the Government of Canada to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, support negotiations to end the war, and re-establish friendly relations with Russia. She also met with the Director and her assistant at the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies to discuss opportunities for cooperation. Tamara met with members of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)-Russia to talk about our shared desire for a world without nuclear weapons and war. For her trip to Russia, Tamara brought banners and buttons “Peace & Cooperation” in English, Russian and Finnish and tried to find ways to make connections and build peace. She also brought books for Saint Petersburg State University and MGIMO University and she gave a copy of the book A Misfit in Moscow: How British diplomacy in Russia failed: 2014-2019 by retired British diplomat Ian Proud, to the Canadian Embassy.
We must find ways to end the war in Ukraine, build peace with Russia and all countries and work cooperatively to stop catastrophic climate change and achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
You can read Tamara’s full report here.
Find out more about the Eurasian Women’s Forum.
Read the Declaration for the Conference “Peace, Nature and Cooperation in the Baltic and Arctic Regions” and watch the proceedings that are uploaded to Global Women for Peace United Against NATO.
Watch Tamara’s interview with Dimitri Lascaris about being stopped by CSIS at the Toronto airport when she returned home: “Is Canada’s Spy Agency Illegally Spying On Canadians? w/ Tamara Lorincz“.
Watch Tamara’s interview with Yves Engler about her encounter with Canada Border Services and CSIS.
Tamara is grateful for the financial and more support from the Eurasian Women’s Forum, VOW, WILPF Canada and WILPF US for her trip.
