A Europe for peace
A Europe free from nuclear weapons
All over the world scientists and artists, military and pacifists, women and men, young and old say: war is a disaster!
Europe represents for many an aspiration, an economic model, a cultural reference, the very idea of well-being and social security. The European Union is growing and new countries are always asking to be part of it.
Europe wants to “promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples”, but this desire clashes with a reality that has changed rapidly in recent years: international terrorism, the war in Iraq, the use of violence for resolving international, regional and local conflicts, the strategy of preventive warfare and above all a new mad race for nuclear arms.
The statements by the United States and France on the possibility of first using the atomic bomb against terrorism, the statements by Japan on the possibility of entering the atomic world for defensive purposes, the intention of Iran and North Korea to continue in their nuclear program, they leave everyone dismayed.
Europe, abdicating its role as a world economic and cultural power, fragmented in its national governments and subordinated to the military political strategy of the United States, accepts the installation of new bases, favoring the aggravation of international tensions.
Peoples across Europe, on the other hand, are asking: let’s give peace a chance!
Europe must not support any policy that drags the planet towards catastrophe: here the lives of millions of people are at stake, the very future of humanity is at stake. Nuclear weapons must be dismantled today before they are used; later it would be too late. Let the politicians rise to the occasion or step aside!
Europe has the historic opportunity to be a positive and driving model for all those countries that are on the way to regional integration in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Europe has the opportunity to initiate an international policy of relaxation and peace, which can open up new horizons and new paths that human beings need to travel. Europe has the opportunity to lead an epochal change as the vanguard of the Universal Human Nation.
We ask that Europe choose a policy of peace, decisive and non-violent. We ask as urgent and indispensable measures:
a Europe free from nuclear weapons: to demand from the United States the withdrawal of all nuclear devices present in the US-NATO bases for their dismantling, and the elimination of the nuclear arsenals of France and Great Britain, as the first steps to start the UN-supervised global nuclear disarmament program.
declare nuclear weapons illegal under the 1996 International Tribunal ruling.
the cancellation of any agreement for the installation or expansion of military bases of foreign powers on the territory.
the withdrawal of the troops of European countries from the occupied territories.
the search for diplomatic mediation and dialogue for the resolution of conflicts.
In the streets of the big cities and their suburbs, in the small urban and rural centers of Europe, something new is being born: a sweet but powerful symphony, which like a hurricane overwhelms every injustice, every abuse, every violence. Nobody will be able to silence her, because it is the deepest hope of the human being.
Friends from all over Europe, let us build a Europe of peace with the strength of non-violence!
Prague, February 22, 2007
Giorgio Schultze
War Or Peace?
We deplore Russia’s military aggression in the country of Ukraine, whilst we are aware of the multiple economic and political interests that paved the way for and that are driving the conflict.
Our priority is to stop the war, save human lives and avert an economic disaster whose price will inevitably be paid by the poorest and most vulnerable.
We want peace. And peace is achieved by means of dialogue and negotiation, not by fuelling a conflict with shipments of ammunition and troops. Human life is what has most value and there is no geopolitical or economic reason, no alleged war for freedom, that can be put before human beings.
Truly saving the Ukrainian people from disaster means silencing all weapons. This is why we denounce the irresponsibility of all the institutions that foment war by sending weapons to Ukraine: European governments, the United Kingdom, the US government, NATO, the European Union …
We beseech the UN to perform its role with conviction in order to uphold peace and global security.
We implore all governments not to aid and abet this war with money, soldiers or guns as this will only serve to make it bloodier and more prolonged, leading to even more death and suffering. We urge that sanctions which might make peoples’ lives worse not be imposed anywhere in the world.
We ask that the European Union contribute to peace, as stated in its founding treaty, and act as an independent interlocutor in this conflict. That it operates through diplomatic mediation and dialogue, taking into consideration the requests and concerns of both sides, to reach an agreement that leads to the cessation of hostilities.
The threat of nuclear war looms over us all, which can even break out in an accident. This is why we ask all governments to immediately adhere to the treaty for the prohibition of nuclear weapons, which entered into force on January 22, 2021.
Nuclear weapons must be dismantled now, later it would be too late.
We are angered by all those leaders who, despite having considerable economic and technological resources at their disposal, fail to create a fair and truly human society.
We do not wish to be accessories to such recklessness.
Let us assume responsibility for our future and invoke our loftiest aspirations, which link the hearts of all human beings, in order to change this destructive course of events.
Protest in all non-violent forms to achieve this: war is a disaster, let’s build peace.