MESSAGE FROM THE EASTERN EUROPE WORKING GROUP OF THE FAU-IWA: This message is in ENGLISH, Esperanto and German. Please distribute it as widely as possible.
ENGLISH: THE 6th ANARCHIST AND ANARCHO-SYNDICALIST EAST-WEST MEETING will be held from 27th - 31st August 1997 in Lvov, UKRAINE. (The 5th was in late August 1996 near Litovel in the Czech Republic). We expect around 60 participants, especially from Eastern European countries. As yet there is no set theme for the meeting, but there will certainly be lots of interesting encounters and discussions. There is no set working language.
There is at least one good reason for getting in touch with us soon: to do the bureaucratic shit required to legally enter the Ukraine. Everyone from Western countries who wants to participate will need to get an official letter of invitation from the organizers in Lvov before they can get a visa. This is standard practice in the countries of the ex-USSR. You can do this yourself by writing to the organizers and asking them to do you an invitation. (The comrades in Lvov speak Russian and also understand English, French and Spanish). Alternatively you can come on a group visa with several of us from Berlin. This means we would take some of the bureaucratic work off your hands - it looks as if you wouldn't even need to go to a Ukrainian Embassy. Travelling in a group is also slightly cheaper (40 DEM compared with 60 DEM for an individual visa) and arguably gives a certain degree of added "protection" to Western travellers prone to police &/or mafia harassment. But you would also need to be flexible - Eastern Europe is fraught with complications; and a travel group cannot cater to every whim of individual members. Currently we can't specify which means of transport we will be using. Being in a group will also mean that we will need to be all together for crossing into and out of the Ukraine!
The meeting point of the group will be in Berlin on about 22nd or 23rd August or alternatively several days later in Krakow (probably 25th or 26th August). As further details of the meeting become available we will communicate them to whoever has expressed interest in attending.
All those interested in going to the East-West meeting on the group visa should send 45 DEM (without deductions!) to our account below by 15th April, indicating your name and the purpose of payment, e.g. "Anna Schwarz. Group visa". (We cannot guarantee a refund if you withdraw at a later date). We also need to receive three photocopies of the main page of your passport by 15th April so as to pass them on to the comrades in Lvov. We must stress that 15th April is the absolute deadline, so please send the three copies earlier!
We apologize for this bureaucratic inflexibility - we want to go to the meeting in Lvov and see no choice but to follow the Ukrainian state's stupid regulations. As mentioned earlier, you can also try getting your invitation from the organizers individually and directly. This may be possible at a later date than the deadline we have set for the group visa (15th April). But there are no guarantees.
***** Adreso de la Fakgrupo pri orienta Euxropo de FAU-ILA/Adresse der Osteuropa-AG der FAU-IAA/Address of the Eastern Europe Working Group of FAU-IWA:
c/o Freie Kultur Aktion e.V., im A-Laden, Rathenower Strasse 22, DE- 10559 Berlin. Tel. & Fax: 030-3946167
Konto n-ro/Konto Nr./account no.: 4751200807
Banko/Geldinstitut/bank: Mittelbrandenburgische Sparkasse in Potsdam
Banka kodo/BLZ/bank code: 16050000 Posedanto de la konto/Kontoinhaber/account holder: Thomas Beckmann.
***** Adreso de la organizantoj/Adresse der Vorbereitungsgruppe/Address of the organizers:
Oleg Vvedensky, PO Box 1030, 290011 Lvov-11, UKRAINE Tel. +380-322-760 737, Fax: +380-322-760 842