Contents :

Welcome

1.         Collecting and sending aid at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

2.         Appeals for donations and contacts with politicians

3.         Welcoming and accompanying Ukrainian refugee families

4.         Aid sent to hospitals in Kharkiv and Kramatorsk

5.         The Ad Pacem 2023 calendar

6.         Ukrainian scholarship holders

7.         Aid in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) through the Ad Pacem 2022 calendar

8.         Conferences and concerts organised

9.         The Ad Pacem website and the section “Russian war against Ukraine”.

10.       Financial report 2022

11.       Report of the cash audit

12.       Election of the new Board of Directors

13.       Miscellaneous

On Wednesday 22 March 2023, the committee of the association “Ad Pacem servandam – Pour la Paix et contre la Guerre asbl” held its sixth general meeting. Four members of the Board of Directors were present and twelve donor members were excused. On behalf of the committee, the president Claude Pantaleoni welcomed everyone and invited all to commemorate the victims of a year of war in Ukraine with a minute’s silence.

He went on to say that the committee had met in 2022 seven times in working sessions. Six newsletters were sent to the members, who numbered one hundred and five at the end of 2022. He said that 95% of the association’s activities had been related to the consequences of the war in Ukraine. The President and Vice President Natalya Pantaleoni then gave a detailed report on the events of 2022.

1.         Collecting and sending aid at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

From the very first days of the Russian invasion the committee members were approached by neighbours and members who were desperate to help by bringing goods, clothes, blankets, linen, food and hygiene products. Everything was sent to Ukraine to be used for IDPs, refugees and victims. With a few power point pictures, the vice-president showcased some key moments of this initiative.

2.         Appeals for donations and contacts with politicians

The leaders of the association contacted politicians in Luxembourg in the municipalities of Steinsel and Differdange, who organised an appeal for donations through their letterbox distribution services. The commune of Crusnes (F) made a donation and the mayor of Serrouville (F) invited all the Ukrainian refugees hosted by Ad Pacem to share a meal at the fair in early July.

3.         Welcoming and accompanying Ukrainian refugee families

In March and April 2022, the association gave priority to welcoming the families who had requested assistance. Our primary objective was to receive and accompany them in the reception centres of the region and in the homes of families ready to receive them. Our secretary organised a French language course for about ten refugees. With photos, some of the highlights were recalled by the vice-president.

4.         Aid sent to hospitals in Kharkiv and Kramatorsk

The calls for donations in our Newsletter have allowed us to send medicines and medical equipment to hospitals in need. This aid was documented by photos and explanations by the Vice-President.

5.         The Ad Pacem 2023 calendar

This year’s calendar, produced by the association, introduces Ukraine, a country that was little known in Europe until the full-scale Russian invasion began on 24 February 2022. The calendar was illustrated with photos provided by two Ukrainian refugee photographers. Proceeds from the sale of the calendar go to help a team of a dozen doctors from the Kharkiv hospital who take turns in a field hospital behind the Ukrainian frontline to help seriously wounded soldiers as soon as possible. Since autumn 2022 Ad Pacem has been financing some of the equipment these doctors need. The photos show what has been sent to these doctors: bulletproof vests, special telephone sets near the front, sleeping bags (-15°), mattresses, medicines, dressings and various medical equipment.

6.         Ukrainian scholarship holders

Since its inception, the Ad Pacem association has supported Ukrainian internally displaced refugees who receive scholarships to study at universities in their home country. The vice-president explained how the situation has changed for each of the scholarship holders.

7.         Aid in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) through the Ad Pacem 2022 calendar

The president explained how part of the profit from the sale of last year’s calendar was donated to the therapeutic accompaniment association ‘Zena Bratunac’ which, thirty years after the Balkan war (1992-95), continues to accompany women in Bosnia-Herzegovina who are still suffering psychologically, and sometimes physically, from the mistreatment suffered in the concentration camps of the time.

The other part of the profit was used to pay for the matriculation of three young women from different ethnic and religious communities in BiH who attended interreligious and intercultural courses at the Catholic Faculty of the University of Sarajevo during the academic year 2022-23. These courses serve them to better understand their own culture and religion and those of other communities in BiH. In this way they seek to work in Bosnian society as peacemakers and build multi-ethnic understanding.

8.         Conferences and concerts organised

a) Mr Jacques Faure was invited by Ad Pacem on 7 May 2022 at the Luxembourg Book Fair (L) to speak on the theme:

“What peaceful policy for Europe in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine?”

This former French diplomat, who came from the Central Administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has fulfilled numerous tasks in various European committees. And he was French ambassador in various capitals of Eastern Europe and from 2008 to 2011 ambassador in Kyiv.

b) On 18 June 2022 Ad Pacem invited Mrs Galia Ackerman, who was born in Moscow at the time of the Soviet Union, to the Maison pastorale in Longwy (F). She is a writer, historian, journalist and translator of the Russian and ex-Soviet world.

With the theme of the conference “Understanding Putin’s Russia and the war in Ukraine” she showed how the Kremlin autocrat has built up his power and prepared the Russian invasion of Ukraine for a long time.

c) Then it was the turn of the vice-president to present two benefit concerts, the profits of which were destined to help Ukrainian victims of the war in their country:

– On the day of the independence of Ukraine, 24 August, Laura and Daniel Pantaleoni gave a concertino in Serra Sant Abbondio (I).

– and the Franciscan Sisters of Belair (L) organised the Advent concert for Ad Pacem.

9.         Ad Pacem’s website and the section “Russian war against Ukraine”.

The person in charge of the website’s programming, Mr Laurent Tran Van Mang, then explained the attacks and hacking that the Ad Pacem servandam website has suffered over the last two years. On several occasions the site has been put out of action. Most of the attacks have come from America, Russia and China.

For him, it is absolutely necessary to protect oneself by building effective computer defences.

The new section on the website “Russian War on Ukraine” documents all the aid sent from here or bought in Ukraine for hospitals, doctors and reception centres for refugees and displaced persons.

10.       Financial report 2022

Mr Christian Welter, the treasurer of the association, then presented the detailed financial report. After giving an overview of the finances for the year 2022, he detailed in order the income obtained from membership cards, the expenses related to the organised activities, and then the amounts of the donations received (as well as their origin) and the aid sent to Ukraine. Mr Welter concluded his report by detailing the profit made from the sale of the 2022 calendar and the use made of it.

11.       Report of the cash auditor

The financial report for 2022 had been checked and validated by the cash auditor, Mr Patrice Picart, who confirmed during the General Assembly that the finances had been managed correctly and accurately.

12.       Election of the new Board of Directors

As the mandates of the members of the Board of Directors came to an end, the election of the new Board of Directors took place. Claude Pantaleoni was elected as the new president, Natalya Pantaleoni as vice-president, Christian Welter as treasurer and secretary and Laurent Tran Van Mang as the person responsible for computer programming.

13.       Miscellaneous

a) Two “Bike for climate – bike for peace” cycling trips are planned for this year. The next day trip is scheduled for Saturday, April 29, on the cycling paths of southern Luxembourg.

b) As the remembrance of our European history is becoming more and more important and because attempts to rewrite it are being made, there is nothing better than to organise guided tours of important places of memory and history in our Greater Region for the members of the association.

c) Finally, the Vice-President informed the assembly of an important aid project for the year 2023. This is the construction of a small power station for the three large residential houses of the Children’s and Orphans’ Home in Chernivtsi in the western Ukraine.