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Swedish Peace and Arbitration SocietyThe Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS) (Swedish: Svenska freds- och skiljedomsföreningen) is a non-governmental organization in Sweden, dedicated to peace, disarmament and democratization.[1] It operates by methods including publishing, lobbying, activism and participating in political debates. SPAS has published an array of books and reports. The name of the organization's member's magazine is Pax. SPAS' central office is situated in Stockholm, headed by current president Agnes Hellström. However, there are about 20 local branches throughout Sweden. The society has a total of about 8500 members.[2] HistoryThe Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society is the world's oldest peace organization, and Scandinavia's largest today. It was founded in 1883[3] by 50 Swedish parliamentarians and headed by Klas Pontus Arnoldson, who was awarded the 1908 Nobel Peace Prize.[4] Among SPAS' notable achievements are:
In 2015, after a Russian submarine was spotted off the coast of Sweden, in response to Russia’s ban of LGBT propaganda, the organization designed a subsurface sonar system with a depiction of a thrusting soldier and Morse code that translated to “This way if you are gay”.[5] CriticismDuring Russian invasion of Ukraine, SPAS has been heavily criticised for its naive worldview and its position to not support Ukraine militarily.[6][7][8][9] In Sweden, organisation's members are frequently called "traitors" and "Putin's useful idiots".[10][11][12] Surveillance by the Swedish Security PoliceSwedish government has published reports revealing that SPAS was surveilled by the Swedish security police because of suspected links to Russian intelligence services.[13][14] See alsoReferences
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