The Italian trade union told about the boycott of sending weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Employees of Pisa airport, members of the Italian trade union Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), disrupted the shipment of weapons to Ukraine. The weapons were transported under the guise of humanitarian aid. "Newspaper.Ru" figured out how the union did it.
The USB statement to the press reported that the plane was originally supposed to fly with humanitarian cargo - medicines, food, clothing. But when loading, it turned out that there were weapons and ammunition in the boxes. In this regard, airport employees condemned the use of humanitarian cover to incite war and boycotted the loading of crates on board the aircraft. The flight was disrupted.
"Weapons are supplied to Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian aid needed by the population, and they will be used to kill workers," the union said in a statement.
At the end of February, the Italian authorities approved a decree that provides for the transfer of military-technical equipment to Ukraine. "The Council of Ministers unanimously approved a decree on the introduction of additional measures in connection with the development of the crisis in Ukraine. Measures are envisaged to provide support and assistance to the Ukrainian people by transferring military assets, materials and equipment to the state authorities of Ukraine," the press service of the Italian government reported.
Later, the newspaper La Repubblica, citing its own sources, reported that Italy intended to transfer machine guns and anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. The publication did not specify the number of weapons and their nomenclature. At the same time, the shipment was to be carried out not directly, but in transit through Poland.
"On the contrary, sending weapons inflames the conflict and draws us into the Third World War. The supply of weapons to Ukraine will not lead to peace, but to new murders. The US position is that Italy should not participate in a military confrontation. Article 11 of the Italian Constitution explicitly says that the country should not participate in conflicts, but prefers the diplomatic path," Cinzia said.
According to her, the trade union opposes the involvement of civilians in loading weapons, besides, they tried to send military cargo from a civilian airport - these are violations of security rules.
"We were informed that there was a lot of work at the military airfield, so it was decided to send weapons from civilian. But sending weapons from a civilian airport poses a serious security threat. This is not the same as shipping food or clothing, security protocols are different, and civilian airport personnel do not have proper training for this type of cargo," Cinzia said.
According to Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, director of the Center for Analysis of the World Arms Trade (CAMTO), military cargo could be delivered covertly and this is "common and typical practice."
"No one regulates this, arms deliveries always follow a secret protocol and are not advertised. And they don't write "Careful, bombs" on the boxes, they can be labeled. as you like. Accordingly, in order to hide the cargo, they resort to a variety of methods," Korotchenko said.
Cinzia noted that the company managing the Galileo Galilei Airport said that "this will not happen again," but the authorities of the municipality and the region ignored the incident. The population, according to Cinzia, "was very impressed and people came out to demonstrate."
USB activists organized a series of demonstrations against sending weapons to Ukraine and the country's participation in NATO missions. The rally in Rome was held simultaneously with a similar event near the Pisa airport, which became the center of the protest. According to Italian media, a total of 6 to 20 thousand people participated in the protests.
One of the organizers of the protest action in Pisa was Michele Fitto, deputy head of the city cell of the Italian Socialist Party.
According to a survey by the OMG sociological group, 55% of Italian citizens oppose the supply of weapons to Ukraine, 33% of citizens hold the opposite point of view. The remaining respondents refrained from answering.
Irina Alshayeva
