On Saturday, 6 April, Ukrainian and Polish activists will gather at the Castle Square in Warsaw to call on the EU to impose a full embargo on Russian products
The co-organizers of the are the Wschód initiative, the All-Polish Boycott of Leroy Merlin, Akcja Demokracja, and Euromaidan Warsaw.planning to hold a mass artistic performance and installation symbolizing the EU countries’ trade with the aggressor. It is not the first time that Euromaidan Warsaw activists have held actions against trade with the aggressor state, as well as boycotted businesses that have not withdrawn from Russia. The goal of activists is to draw attention to double standards and call for an immediate end to trade between the EU and Russia, which continues unhindered to this day and literally finances missiles that kill Ukrainians.
“Silence and inaction become accomplices to evil. Through our action, we want to make a loud statement that crimes against humanity cannot be ignored and Russian money cannot be turned a blind eye. Trade with Russia is not only an economic act, but also a moral choice: the choice to finance genocide and be accomplices in the terror of Ukrainians,” said Dominik Gąsiorowski, leader of the All-Polish Boycott of Leroy Merlin initiative and Polish activist. The organization stressed that the terrorist state continues to export its grain, oil, gas, diamonds, and even cucumbers to the EU without any obstacles, bypassing sanctions.
“Each participant of the action becomes part of a global voice for justice. We demand an end to the trade that fuels the Russian war machine that is killing people in Ukraine. Our message is clear: you cannot make business on blood and pain,” said Mykola Petryga, an activist of the Euromaidan Warsaw civic initiative.
As a reminder, More than 200 multinational corporations did not leave the Russian market and received $214 billion in revenue in 2022 through their Russian enterprises, paying $3.5 billion in taxes to the terrorist state. In 2023, Russia exported goods worth €50.6 billion to the EU, and the EU exported goods worth €38.3 billion to Russia.
