JASMUN

The annual JASMUN conference was held from the 23^rd to the 25^th of  September. The inaugural session was opened by the principal Anna Sobala – Zbroszczyk. During the greeting, she noticed that although we have to face the difficult events of the present day, we cannot be afraid or think pessimistically. “We have to believe that we can make our world a better place,” she said. She encouraged the participants to share ideas, argue and find solutions. She wished everyone the courage to dream and follow their dreams.

Radosław Sikorski, as the guest of honor of the conference, commented on the current political situation in the world and answered numerous questions from the audience. The Member of the European Parliament drew attention to the threat to the functioning of the current security system in the world in connection with Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. He compared the current crisis to the time before World War II and the decline in the importance of the League of Nations as a result of Italy’s aggression in Abyssinia (today Ethiopia). Russia is now a permanent member of the UN Security Council and an aggressor at the same time. This is mutually exclusive. Sikorski compared Putin to a mad dictator like Hitler or Stalin, scaring the world with nuclear weapons and surrounded by flatterers that distort the image of reality. The card turned and the West turned out to be less degenerated than Putin thought. The most difficult economic sanctions in history were imposed on Russia, the Russian army, considered to be the second army in the world, lost its reputation, and the word of the Russian leader lost its credibility, especially in the face of earlier assurances that Ukraine would not be attacked and as a guarantor of international security. Ukraine and Russia are negotiating, except that on the battlefield, as Clausewitz said, and it is already known that Putin’s main goal of including Ukraine in Russia will not be achieved. The guest stated that despite the officially functioning version of Putin’s election as president in a democratic election, in reality there is a kleptocracy in Russia and the mechanism of succession of power does not work. In tsarist times, the heirs took power, and in the times of communist leaders were changed by the Politburo. Now it is not known how the handover of power can take place. Putin may be struggling not only for his political, but also for his physical survival. According to Sikorski, hope should be sought in supporting the adherents of an authentic democratic system in Russia.

During the conference the following issues were discussed: “Mitigating the course of the Sri Lankan economic crisis”, “Identifying methods of combatting brain drain”, “Combatting economic violence towards women”, “Tackling the rising issue of human trafficking, with an emphasis on sex work slave” or “Re-examining Member States’ approaches to the green deal, with emphasis on nuclear energy”. At the end of the session, students prepared resolutions related to the above topics, and individual national representatives signed them. The resolutions will be the beginning of the process of solving the problems.

 (text: Beata Ciacek, coooperation: Kajetan B.; photo: Beata Ciacek, Antonina N., KlaraW.)