A self-professed anti-globalization movement that reportedly enjoys Kremlin support is hosting a congress this weekend in Moscow which will unite separatist activists from around the world.
The conference, titled “A dialogue of nations: Peoples' right to self-determination and the building of a multi-polar world,” will be held Sunday at Moscow's President Hotel and is apparently intended as a jab at Western governments, as well as a nod to separatist groups outside Russia's borders.
“The governments of the largest Western states, in a fight for their geopolitical interests, are increasingly disregarding the rights and freedoms of the people living in their countries,” the organizers, the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, said in an online statement. “Ordinary people are increasingly thinking about whether they can stop being hostage to the egotistical, sometimes destructive, policies of ruling elites.”
It named Texas, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Catalonia, Scotland, Ireland, Venice and Western Sahara as examples of “territories and ethnic groups” considering independence bids.
The territories “have a full right to declare their self-sufficiency and independence from other states,” the statement added.
Guests at the conference will include envoys from the Texas Nationalist Movement, the Uhuru Movement, the Irish Republican Socialist Party, Ireland's Sinn Fein political party and the Catalan Solidarity for Independence coalition, along with radical or independence-minded groups from Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Western Sahara, according to the statement.
The Russian anti-globalization movement, which organized the gathering, is partly funded by the Kremlin, the RBC business news agency reported, citing the head of the movement Alexander Ionov.
Moscow supports pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, but criminalizes calls for separatism or increased regional autonomy at home.