Voice4Ukraine by Olof Kleberg, Swedish journalist

A few weeks ago we met an interesting passerby on the street of Uppsala. On his cloak, we noticed a badge with the Ukrainian flag. So we decided to introduce ourselves and ask why he wore it. The passerby replied: I stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people in this war.

Olof Kleberg is 84 years old. He has been working as a journalist all his life. For many years, he was the editor-in-chief of the large newspaper "Swedish Daily" in the north of Sweden. He worked in the OSCE in Sweden for almost ten years. As part of the OSCE mission, he spent four days in Kyiv in November 2013, when Ukraine was chairing the OSCE, and a congress from all over Europe was held in Kyiv.

- I remember how the former Minister of Foreign Affairs then constantly informed foreign media that everything was calm in Kyiv. But we watched the beginning of the Maidan from our hotel, - says Olof, - My unforgettable impression of the Ukrainian protest at that time: this revolution was initiated by ordinary people. We saw it with our own eyes and talked a lot with people on the streets.

Now Olof is a freelance journalist. He writes a lot about democracy in the countries of Eastern Europe, and after the Revolution of Dignity - about Ukraine as well. To my question, did he think that the Maidan would end with the victory of the protesters, and then with the annexation of Crimea, the war in Donbas, and a full-fledged bloody invasion on February 24, he replied that he was very naive and believed that after the Helsinki Agreements, respect for borders in Europe is from now on forever. That cooperation with *ussia was possible, and he even took part in certain events in this direction on the side of Sweden. Today, Olof is experiencing great disappointment.

Later we agreed on an interview for Voice4Ukraine. And by accident, the day of the interview coincided with Olof's participation in the opening of the Alva Myrdal Center for Nuclear Disarmament (AMC) at Uppsala University.

Swede Alva Myrdal, who made many efforts for the nuclear disarmament of the world in the 20th century, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982. I was born this year. And exactly forty years later, my children and I became refugees due to a devastating barbaric war almost in the center of Europe. And humanity is again on the brink of nuclear war.

- What went wrong? - I ask Olof, - Why did decades of scientific research by hundreds of leading scientists and politicians, millions of euros spent on the search for effective conflict resolution strategies, yield nothing and we are back to where we started?

But Olof is convinced that the situation in the world today is not as dire as it was in the eighties. He believes that pu*ilo is smart enough not to use a nuclear bomb despite his careless manipulation.
"He understands that nuclear weapons will make *ussian land uninhabitable..." - Olof assures me. In addition, he believes that ordinary *ussian people cannot be condemned because they are not Ukrainians who have always lived more freely and had strong public organizations. "It is not their fault that their country's leader is a dictator", - says Olof.

It is a topic for longer conversation, as for me.

In any case, I am sincerely grateful to Olof Kleberg for being a regular participant in all demonstrations in support of Ukraine in Stockholm during the entire 8 months of the war. He diligently tries to explain to his readers and familiar Swedes everything he understands about Ukraine, Ukrainians, and our war. He is sincerely convinced that Ukrainians are also fighting for Europe.

And this is another small Ukrainian victory in our big information war with the "narrow" neighbors.
We continue to work so that there will be more such victories every day.

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🇺🇦 🇸🇪 Слава Україні!

Видео Voice4Ukraine by Olof Kleberg, Swedish journalist канала VOICE4Ukraine