Interview: Ludwig Dvorak
by Christoph
 On 21 June 2006 President George W. Bush visited the Austrian capital Vienna. Wherever one of the most controversial politicians of the present goes, you can expect resistance. Vienna was no exception. 20,000 people joined the peaceful resistance and marched to express their opposition, which for a small country like Austria, no question, is an impressive number.
As v-generations.com favours people who oppose the Mighty we talked with Ludwig Dvorak, chairman of the Socialist Youth of Austria and spokesman of the peace platform “Stop Bush”, one of many groups who called for a move towards peace in world politics.
V: How did you start to organize this movement?
Dvorak: At first we had a discussion about it at the Federal Committee in February. We planned to bring together a broad alliance of many different social backgrounds. Thereupon we organized the peace platform “Stop Bush” and scheduled the demonstration for June 21st, the day of the EU-USA summit.
V: You had posters, two press conferences, your own website (stopbush.at) and an entertainment program. Where did you get all these backings from?
Dvorak: Without the help of some organizations and their offer to deliver the necessary resources it wouldn’t have been possible, of course. And joint with these organisations, we were able to bring everything together.
V: So there was no financial contribution from your side?
Dvorak: Of course there was! At the moment we are handling our final billing to see what in the end everything is accounting for. Certainly it is linked with an enormous financial effort, which we try to cover-up with contributions, like donations from different organisations.
V: Were you afraid of riots?
Dvorak: Actually, we didn’t really worry about that because we considered and characterized this demonstration as peace rally. But I attracted attention to the fact that the media was more interested in the possibility of some anarchists who would maybe cause some riots.
V: Was this your first demonstration?
Dvorak: No, but it was the biggest one I ever helped to organise.
V: What was the worst experience you ever had at a demonstration?
Dvorak: At the first WEF (World Economic Forum) Demonstration in Salzburg, the police went nuts and they started to close in on the demonstration without a cause.
V: Has this demonstration met your expectations? Was it worthwhile?
Dvorak: Yes, I think it certainly was worthwhile and it exceeded our expectations by far. We expected about 5,000 to 10,000 people. The bottom line was more than 20,000 participants. It is hard to estimate the numbers. I think it was a very clear sign against war and armament. It was a wonderful success for the whole platform.
© 2006 Sozialistische Jugend Österreich
V: What kind of advise would you give to other people who are planning demonstrations?
Dvorak: I don’t know if I can answer your question. I think it is important with themes like politics for peace or against armament to create alliances in order to reach a certain public broadness. You shouldn’t bind yourself to an immediate core. Try to bridge with organisations you normally don’t come in touch with in your everyday life but because of the goal you will find a common ground with them.
V: What was your impression of Cindy Sheehan?
Dvorak: The contribution of Cindy Sheehan was very important for us because her participation was a proof that there are a great number of people in the United States who do not agree with the war politics. We were very pleased with her visit.
V: In retrospect, what would you do differently?
Dvorak: I would estimate the number of participants a little bit more optimistically and bring in more contact persons for people into the demo. Sometimes it was not clear for the ones at the end oft the march, what was happening ahead of the march. The internal communication could have been better.
V: Are you planning anything for the future?
Dvorak: We will continue our work on policy of peace and organise demonstrations. Issues like militarization, armament and the decline of social welfare are all part of the economic system we live in. Especially in the European Union and in Austria these are contemporary issues. Thinking of the European Constitution and its armament clause, you know the case is not closed – no matter if US president made a visit or not. The EU-US summit was a good opportunity to bring awareness to this matter, but more opportunities are going to come to oppose the purchase of bombs with our money instead of education.
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