Remember this day. Remember February 24th as the day Russia invaded and attacked Ukraine. Again. Remember how no country did enough to stop it. Many already lost their lives. Countless more will suffer, have their lives uprooted. Today, more than ever, it’s clear that the struggle between freedom and authoritarianism is raging. Today more than ever it is clear that to stand a chance we must unite, that democracies must form a block.
If you have followed our work in the last couple of years, you know how much we care about freedom and democracy. Today's Russian aggression onto Ukraine reminded us - once more - how we must, in this historical moment, do more to protect what we hold dear to our hearts.
Hong Kong, Belarus, Venezuela, Ukraine: crackdowns and threats against each of these places are just heartbreaking symptoms of a wider disease. Authoritarians are emboldened by divisions within democracies, by new technology increasing their ability to control and spread propaganda, and by supporting each other in their claims on a “breakaway region” to be “brought back.” The democratic world seems, once more, weak in the face of a crisis: while Russian tanks first rolled into Ukraine, a major power like the EU was still proposing to hold talks between Russia & the US. This ain’t enough, we all know it. Sanctions, extremely strong ones, are needed.
At Atlas, we are in the unique position to have a global network of thousands of activists, volunteers, and everyday citizens from more than 130 countries. Every single person in our network cares deeply about democracy, equity, and unity. And none of us wants to continue witnessing this kind of abuse. So it’s time for action: the leadership of the movement, built upon team leaders of our global teams and national chapters, is working as we speak to steer our organization in providing the global coordinated political platform needed to bring new energy into the monumental struggle we have ahead of us: the one of ensuring that the next generations will still be able to vote and express their beliefs, and be free from the chains of dictatorship.
Stay tuned as we will soon share more info about this. In the meantime, please do support Ukraine as you can: here you can find a link of organizations helping on the ground, as shared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Andrea & Colombe
On behalf of the Atlas team
