Mykael
Nyberg reports from Gothenburg
Three
shot and many arrested. That is the spectacular result of the EU Summit meeting
in Stockholm and the visit of US president George W Bush.
Sweden is in shock.
Not since 1931, when army units opened fire against striking workers, has
anyone been shot during political demonstrations in the country.
The Swedish
government had planned to use its half-year chairmanship of the EU Council of
Ministers to make the Union more popular in Sweden. After the 1994 referendum,
when social democratic leaders, supported by monopoly capital, managed to get a
"yes" vote for membership in the EU by a tight margin, a lot of
people in Sweden have felt cheated. Promises made during the pro-EU-campaign
have not been held.
The continuing
resistance against the EU makes it hard for the government to follow the
leading capitalist states in Europe into the European Monetary Union (EMU). It
also makes it difficult to further develop military ties with EU/NATO countries
in Europe.
Prime minister Goran
Persson therefore wanted to make the top meeting in Gothenburgh a showcase for
the European Union. He hoped to marginalize those demanding a Swedish
withdrawal from the EU by promoting a dialogue with groups more positive to the
so-called European project. Among these groups were organizations criticizing
neo-liberal policies and finance capital, but not even supporting resistance
against the EMU, an instrument which institutionalizes the dictatorship of
banks and big business over economic policies. Loosely affiliated with this
political stream were also young anarchists wanting to smash capitalism by
direct action and resisting most concrete demands against the EU for fear of
promoting "nationalism". They claim they are against the capitalist
state, but fail to see how this state is strengthened by the European great
power alliance.
"Peaceful
dialogue -- not confrontation" was the slogan of the government. At the
same time, though, politicians had let loose forces in the police working in a
different direction. Through secret police co-operation in the Europol, the
beginning of a European FBI, Swedish police chiefs have learned more repressive
and heavy handed ways. These methods were practiced from the very beginning of
the Gothenburgh meeting.
Thursday morning the
14th of June, just as the US president arrived, police forces surrounded a
school in Gothenburgh, where young activists, invited by the city council, had
spent the night and were preparing political seminars. Police officers claimed
they wanted to arrest and disarm some violent hooligans among the activists,
but by their provocative action they drove several hundreds more into the hands
of the most short-sighted anarchists, eager to start a fight but without any
mass support. Three days of violent clashes between stonethrowing youngsters
and lots of policemen with horses, dogs and batons followed.
Late Friday night a
couple of policemen started shooting and a 19 year old boy was seriously
wounded. A police helicopter was in the air day and night surveying the events,
and an army of journalists and photographers followed every clash on the
streets. Press coverage concentrated completely on the violence, and politicians
got an opportunity to demand tougher laws and more weapons against
demonstrators.
The Gothenburgh
meeting was clearly a PR-disaster for Goran Persson, but, overlooked by the
media, it was also a silent victory for popular resistance against the policy
of following the great powers of Europe and the US. Three well-organized and
disciplined mass demonstrations marched through the city during the EU meeting.
Each brought together 10.000 to 20.000 participants, which is very good by
Swedish standards. (The whole country has only 9 million inhabitants.)
The first
demonstration was a well deserved welcome for the US president. "Go home,
Bush!", was the message. The two others were directed against the EU and
EU policies. Most important politically was the Friday demonstration, organized
by the Swedish No to EU-movement. The government had hoped, and media
had speculated, that it would be the last breath of the EU-resistance. In fact,
despite the clashes during the day, it got a huge following, probably the biggest
of all the demonstrations.
During his visit to
Gothenburgh president Bush promised Goran Persson that Sweden, home of the
Bofors company, would henceforth be regarded as a NATO-country in
weapons-export policies. This was another proof of the ever tighter bonds
between the Swedish government and the great powers. 20.000 demonstrators,
however, demanded a return to Sweden's former policy of neutrality and
non-alignment.