Celebration of European Day of Peace at the UIC

Dr. Arcadi Oliveres opened the
session and explained the motivation and reasons underlying
all international conflicts. According to Dr. Oliveres, these conflicts arise
for three basic reasons: economic interests, political interests and commercial
interests.
Dr.
Oliveres also accused certain superpowers for selling weapons to Africa and
explained that they were "the true instigators of the wars on the African
continent", because, according to the speaker, "Africa does not
manufacture weapons".
The
next speaker was Fernando de Prat Martí, who explained what an international
conflict represents and what it is like. He said, "Conflicts have now
evolved and are no long identifiable from the theoretical perspective of
classical public international law".
Prat
Martí went on to clarify that "most current international conflicts are
characterized by the existence of asymmetrical enemies and flawed state
organizations, i.e. governments that cannot 'control' a specific situation of
social discontent or of any other kind".
He
also explained how United Nations Peacekeeping missions work. He pointed out
the many benefits the Spanish Army enjoyed for participating in these missions
in the 1990s, mainly in the conflicts in Kosovo, Lebanon and Afghanistan.
Finally,
he listed the main problems and challenges faced, such as the personal safety
of military personnel, culture shock, the mistrust about the job they do and
communication in different languages.
The
last speaker was Grégory Le Coq, who focused on the humanitarian work of the
Red Cross in battle situations, and its humanitarian assistance and supervision
of respect for the human rights.
Le
Coq pointed out that "the principle of neutrality governing the Red
Cross's approach is the victim". Finally, he pointed out that, since it
was founded, the Red Cross has actively applied pressure so the international
community adopts basic rules of behaviour for any conflict.