Received manifest from comrades by e-mail:
We set fire to IKEA shopping center in Malmö, Sweden on the night of March 24th. The reason for the attack – IKEA’s cooperation with the dictatorship of Lukashenka in Belarus.
This action is part of a pressure on Western capitalists who trade with the Lukashenka regime and thereby ensure its survivability. When we were planning the attack, we were inspired by the reflections of the imprisoned anarchist-partisan Igor Olinevich, who wrote in his book «I’m going to Magadan»: «“It is ok to trade even with cannibals” – this is the essence of European politics». The example of based in Sweden and currently registered in the Netherlands furniture corporation IKEA perfectly demonstrates accuracy and relevance of Igor’s conclusions.
Back in December 2018, in the wake of political rapprochement between the Lukashenka’s regime and the European Union, IKEA has adopted a strategy «Go Belarus». In the summer of 2019, Belarusian Ambassador to Sweden Dmitry Mironchik told reporters what this strategy is about. According to him, IKEA plans to purchase Belarusian goods with a value of 200 million euros. The same year, in the fall, during a Swedish-Belarusian business meeting in Minsk, Andrei Yevdochenko, at that time the First Deputy Foreign Minister, announced that in 2021 IKEA plans to increase the volume of purchases to 300 million euros.
After the beginning of the Belarusian revolution in august 2020, the Swedish media drew attention to the activities of IKEA in this country. At the end of 2020 it became widely known that seven percent of wood which IKEA uses to manufacture furniture comes from Belarus. This fact once again confirms the accuracy of Igor Olinevic’s words. In his book he described the place of Belarus in the global production chain in following way: «Economically Belarus is elementary, most environmentally filthy, raw material processing». As a result of the scandal the Secretary-General of the Human Rights Organization «Olof Palme International Center» Anna Sundström called on the boycott of IKEA products (https://www.ehandel.se/kritiken-mot-ikea-hamtar-virke-fran-diktaturen ). «Forest and Wood Workers’ Union» which is part of the Social Democratic «Swedish Trade Union Confederation» also demanded from IKEA to terminate cooperation with Lukashenka’s regime (https://www.gsfacket.se/sv/press/nyheter/kommentar-fran-gs-angaende-ikeas-narvaro-i-belarus/ ). Thus, not only anti-authoritarian left, but also a non-indifferent part of the Swedish society, which follows the situation in Belarus, condemns IKEA’s actions in this country. We, anarchists, believe that these people will understand us, will support us, and will become our comrades.
Here we will not list other IKEA’s misdeeds, such as the destruction of nature in different countries of the world and permanent impairment of workers’ conditions. Anyone can easily find information about it. IKEA’s co-operation with the Lukashenka’s regime is a more than enough reason to attack.
As Igor Olinevich and many other anarchists noted, Belarusians should not hope for Western politicians. They will not help. Only people in Belarus, by armed uprising, can destroy the dictatorship. The dirty greedy nature of capitalists, such as IKEA owners, confirms that it is necessary to fight not only for political liberation, but also for the destruction of the economic oppression, for the absolute liberation of the individual. Lukashenka’s regime trade with his accomplices from other countries needs to be blocked by radical direct action. Therefore, we will continue to attack. The words of Igor Olinovich will inspire us: «There is no linear historical path, everything can be changed!»
Action group “The Solidarity”
First news about attack.
It’s not a novel idea, for today large projects aimed to rebuild the world are in decline. In the twentieth century, the powerful movements mobilized millions of people to storm political Olympus and start “great construction projects”. But during the last century, they have gone bankrupt both ethically and practically, one after the other , and soon vanished entirely. Here in particular we refer to fascism and communism of the Leninist type. Even the seemingly triumphant liberal project just basically vanished into the global capitalist system and the global political game, where liberal mechanisms are hardly seen.
January 23 has really become a historic milestone. Not only because there were a lot of people in different cities. Today the potential has turned into reality, the energy of both rebellion and suppression has been released. Now we see their collision with our own eyes and we ourselves participate in it. The day is rich in archetypes: disgusting footage of police brutality, beaten and crushed Toyota with a flashing light as a laconic symbol of the attitude of the active part of the people to the authorities … brief sketches – complete meanings.