TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY .

An article by Thomas Reese in the National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis has launched a peace mission aimed at finding a settlement of the Russia-Ukraine war, upsetting Ukraine’s allies with his refusal to insist that Russia leave Ukraine as a starting point for negotiations. For their part, the Russians simply ignore the pope.

Western supporters of Ukraine accuse the pope of moral equivalency, treating both sides as equal. This is nonsense.

Just four weeks into the war, the pope condemned  the “the violent aggression against Ukraine” and the “senseless massacre where every day there is a repetition of slaughter and atrocities,” in his Sunday Angelus in March 2022. “There is no justification for this!”

Photo of meeting between the Pope and Ukrainian President Zelensky on May 13 (EFE)

The Vatican has always said that it wants a “just peace.” When America Media’s Gerard O’Connell  asked Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, what a just peace meant for the Vatican, Gallagher said it meant a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.

This is not to say the pope holds the West blameless. In June of last year Francis told La Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit publication, that a couple of months before the war an unnamed “wise” diplomat had expressed concern to him about NATO. “They are barking at the gates of Russia,” the diplomat said. “And they don’t understand that the Russians are imperial, and they will not allow any foreign power to approach them. The situation could lead to war,” concluded the diplomat.

While Francis made clear that this was the diplomat’s opinion, it is hard not to conclude that Francis agreed with him. He seems to believe, as many in the Global South do, that NATO somehow either provoked or failed to prevent the war.

Francis has also noted “the interest in testing and selling weapons” to combatants in the war. There is no question that the American military-industrial complex is profiting in Ukraine, financially as well as strategically: The Russian war machine is being severely degraded without the loss of a single American life.

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Can the peace movement help stop the war in the Ukraine?

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But responding to those who accuse him of being pro-Putin, Francis told La Civilta Cattolica: “No, I am not. It would be simplistic and erroneous to say such a thing. I am simply against turning a complex situation into a distinction between good guys and bad guys, without considering the roots and self-interests, which are very complex.”

The pope acknowledged “the brutality and ferocity with which this war is being carried out” by the Russian side. “While we witness the ferocity and cruelty of Russian troops,” he said in the La Civilta Cattolica interview, “we should not forget the problems, and seek to solve them.”

The pope is not cheering on either side in this war, which is an essential quality needed in a mediator. The pope has appointed Cardinal Matteo Zuppi  as a special envoy for peace in Ukraine. Both sides have used the Vatican for facilitating exchanges of prisoners, which is a good sign.

With Ukraine unwilling to give up any of its territory — including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014 — is there something else that would appease Russia and allow Putin to save face in defeat? I think there is: nuclear weapons.

The West has always feared the Red Army sweeping into Europe — indeed, it’s the reason NATO exists. Because the U.S. and Europe were unwilling to pay for enough conventional weapons to stop what they considered a formidable force, they relied on tactical nuclear weapons as a deterrent to the Red Army’s invasion.

We now see that the Russian army is a Potemkin army, more show than substance. If Ukraine all by itself can hold off the Russians and score victories, NATO would wipe the floor with them without using tactical nuclear weapons.

This military reality calls for a rethinking of NATO’s nuclear policy. As part of settling the Ukraine-Russia war, NATO and the U.S. should do two things: First, swear off the first use of nuclear weapons in Europe. Second, negotiate the elimination or at least reduction of tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.

Ukraine will have to agree to not “officially” join NATO. The war has already made Ukraine part of NATO unofficially. Ukraine would continue to receive weapons, but no NATO troops can be deployed on Ukrainian soil.

Putin, as an authoritarian autocrat, can continue this war indefinitely. We must give him something to get him to stop. He could save face by telling his people that the war succeeded in forcing NATO into this deal.

There is a temptation to let the war go on as long as Russia is stymied and suffering huge military losses in the speculative hope that it will bring down Putin. But Ukraine is also suffering both military and civilian losses.

The pope reminds us to look at “the human side of the war,” the impact on people’s lives, the deaths, the refugees, the widows and orphans. The war cannot be examined only in terms of “geopolitical calculations.” Too many people are dying. The pope is right in calling for peace. Unnecessary tactical nuclear weapons in Europe would be a cheap price to pay for it.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

Forty-five civil society organisations in Spain have come together to form a coalition with a single mission: to persuade the Spanish government to adhere to the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The Alianza por el Desarme Nuclear  (Alliance for Nuclear Disarmament), which has the backing of ICAN, was launched in Madrid on 23 May. It will work to raise public awareness of the treaty’s importance and lobby decision-makers to endorse it.

Speaking at the launch event, the alliance’s coordinator, Maribel Hernández, urged the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, to “take a courageous step forward” and sign the TPNW “as a symbol of our country’s commitment to peace”. She stressed the danger of “normalising the existence of nuclear weapons” and promoting a security model based on the possession of such weapons. As a NATO member, Spain has repeatedly endorsed the notion that US nuclear weapons offer it “protection” and could, in certain circumstances, be used on its behalf.

Carlos Umaña, a co-president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War  and member of ICAN’s international steering group, recalled that Sánchez committed in 2018 to sign the TPNW, but this promise “remains unfulfilled”. It was part of a deal  struck with the leader of the Podemos political party, Pablo Iglesias. Umaña also noted that a majority of Spaniards – 89 per cent, according to a YouGov poll  in 2020 – want the government to sign the TPNW. “We are at the most worrying moment in history in terms of the risk of a possible large-scale nuclear war from which there would be no going back,” he warned.

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A broad coalition of organisations

The Alliance for Nuclear Disarmament comprises  a diverse range of organisations and other entities working in the fields of peace and disarmament, human rights, the environment, and social justice, including Centre Delás d’Estudis per la Pau, the Spanish section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, AIPAZ (Spanish Association for Peace Research), FundiPau, Fundación Cultura de Paz, Greenpeace, Desarma Madrid, Ecologistas en Acción, General Commission for Justice and Peace, Mayors for Peace, Gernika Gogoratuz, Women in Black Madrid, Pressenza and MOC (Movement for Conscientious Objection). Since its launch, many more groups and individuals have expressed an interest in joining the alliance.

The groups are asking local municipalities  and regional parliaments to appeal to the Spanish government to join the TPNW. Barcelona and dozens of other cities and towns have already pledged their support, as has the autonomous community of Navarre. Pending Spain’s accession to the TPNW, the alliance believes that the government should observe the official meetings of states parties to the treaty, held roughly every two years. The NATO members Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway observed the first  such meeting, held in Vienna last June. The second meeting will take place in New York this November.

Spain and the TPNW

The TPNW was negotiated at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and adopted with the support of 122 states. Spain opted not to participate in the process and has not yet taken any steps towards becoming a state party. Ahead of the treaty’s adoption, the foreign affairs committee of the Spanish congress of deputies passed a resolution  calling on the government to support the approval of the new treaty – but it was not heeded. In 2020, the same committee welcomed  the TPNW “as an effort to move towards peace, security, and disarmament”.

Three former Spanish foreign ministers – Ana Palacio, Javier Solana, and Carlos Westendorp – signed an open letter  in 2020 with dignitaries from other NATO states and Japan calling on current leaders to “show courage and boldness – and join the [TPNW]”. Solana is also a former NATO secretary-general. They noted in their letter that the TPNW does not prevent its parties from remaining in alliances with nuclear-armed states, such as NATO, “but we would be legally bound never under any circumstances to assist or encourage our allies to use, threaten to use, or possess nuclear weapons”.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from Stop the War Coalition

Stop the War Coalition congratulates delegates at the University and College Union who voted through a resolution at their congress this weekend calling for peace in Ukraine. The resolution condemns the Russian invasion and points out that NATO’s escalation in response has turned Ukraine into a battleground between the great powers. It is the Ukrainian people who are the main victims.

(Editor’s note: The University and College Union (UCU) is a British trade union in further and higher education representing over 120,000 academics and support staff.)

The success of the resolution has sparked a debate within the union which we welcome as there is so little discussion allowed in this country on the war in Ukraine. We condemn attacks on the union by pro-war figures and the use of UCU social media accounts to criticise the vote. The democracy of the trade union movement should be defended by all.

Trade unions have a long history of opposing government involvement in foreign wars and campaigning against militarisation and increased arms spending. This tradition is especially important in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.

We urge trade unionists across the movement to put similar resolutions to their branches. We are happy to provide speakers for any meeting.

The resolution passed at the UCU is as follows:

Stop the War in Ukraine – Peace Now. City and Islington College Camden Road, University of Brighton, Grand Parade

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Congress notes:

1. One year after the brutal invasion, Ukraine has become a battleground for Russian and US imperialism.

2. It is estimated that 150,000 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians and 200,000 Russian soldiers have died since invasion.

3. Putin has threatened the use of nuclear weapons and unleashed war crimes.

4. The 2022 NATO summit committed to a US military base in Poland, a brigade in Romania, air missile systems in Italy and Germany and two additional F-35 squadrons in Britain.

5. Volodymyr Zelensky says he wants Ukraine to become a “big Israel”—an armed, illiberal outpost of US imperialism.

Congress believes:

a. Wars are fought by the poor and unemployed of one country killing and maiming the poor and unemployed of another.

b. We should say, “Russian troops out, no to NATO escalation and expansion.”

c. We should stand in solidarity with ordinary Ukrainians and demand an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.

d. NATO is not a progressive force: escalation risks widening war in the region.

e. Only through a peaceful resolution can lives be saved.

Resolves:

i. UCU to call upon Russian to withdraw its troops and for government to stop arming Ukraine.

ii. UCU to call for a peaceful resolution to the war.

iii. Congress resolves to support protests called by Stop The War, CND and other anti-war organisations.

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An announcement from Peace in Ukraine

We are calling for an international civil society gathering in Vienna, Austria on June 10/11*

The goal of the Peace Summit is to publish an Urgent Global Appeal, called the Vienna Declaration for Peace, calling on political leaders to act in support of a ceasefire and  negotiations in Ukraine.

Inviting Organizations: International Peace Bureau, CODEPINK, Assembly of the World  Social Forum, Transform Europe, IPPNW (D,AT,CH) (tbc), Europe4Peace, WILPF  International (tbc), International Fellowship of Reconciliation, Peace in Ukraine coalition

Local Organizers and Supporters: AbFaNG (Action Alliance for Peace, active Neutrality  and Non-violence), Institute for Intercultural Research and Cooperation (IIRC), Austrian  Center for Peace (ACP) in Stadtschlaining, Herbert C. Kelman Institute for Interactive  Conflict Transformation, ÖGB – Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, WILPF Austria (tbc), Internationaler Versöhnungsbund – österreichischer Zweig

The summit will have different parts:

A conference to discuss the controversial questions related to the Russian-Ukrainian war, to hear the voices of civil society representatives of the various NATO countries, as well as  representatives from Russia and Ukraine who support the aims of the Peace Summit.  Participants from the Global South will share the dramatic consequences this war has had  for the people in their countries and emphasize how they can contribute to peace. The  Conference will focus not only on critics and analysis, but also on creative solutions and  ways to end the war and how to prepare negotiations. This is not only the task of states and  diplomats but nowadays more and more also of global society.

The conference will include a combination of lectures, working groups, expert groups, and  dialogues.

After the summit a march in Vienna to the various NATO-country embassies, as well as  the embassies of Russia and Ukraine and international organizations located in Vienna will  take place to meet with embassy representatives and deliver the Vienna Declaration for  Peace from people around the world;

*The 9th of June is the 180th Birthday of the Austrian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Bertha von Suttner, the first female Nobel Peace Prize laureate ever.

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The summit will also be supported by a send-off for delegations to visit the capitals of  various European countries with the purpose of meeting with government officials and  international organizations. Also further events for late 2023 will be developed.

A call for peace 

We condemn the illegal Russian invasion in Ukraine. The war has caused death and injuries  of civilians and soldiers and created untold suffering for the Ukrainian people, destroying the  country’s environment and infrastructure, causing rising food and energy prices around the  world, exacerbating poverty and hunger – especially in the global South – and threatening the  entire world with a nuclear war.

It is time for the weapons to fall silent and for diplomacy to begin to resolve the conflict. We  must counter the logic of war with the logic of peace.

Let us gather to discuss the state and the wider context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the  positions of our various governments, the efforts, obstacles, and opportunities of the various  peace movements and most importantly, how we can work more effectively to promote a  ceasefire and negotiations, and peaceful solutions as the alternative to war.

Peace is not only the task of states and diplomats but nowadays more and more also of the  global civil society. What is urgently needed now is a global movement demanding that all  parties stop fighting and start talking. The international support garnered by the International  Peace Bureau’s Christmas ceasefire appeal, the appeals at the UN General Assembly and by  many governments, even comments from some political leaders of Russia and Ukraine show  that a window of opportunity may be opening.

Why Vienna? 

Austria is a neutral country. It is a “UN City” and the home to the Secretariat of the OSCE (the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), which had been monitoring the  situation in the Donbas since the signing of the Minsk II agreement.

Join the Peace Summit! 

It is the responsibility of peace movements all around the world and of all peace-loving  peoples to strengthen these efforts. The Vienna Summit for Peace in Ukraine can be a  powerful sign of hope and a catalyst for more and stronger peace actions globally. The future of humanity hangs in the balance; we must seize the moment before it’s too late.

Contact: International Peace Bureau, Marienstraße 19-20, 10117 Berlin,  viennaconference@ipb-office.berlin

There will be also an opportunity to join the conference virtually. RSVP for more details!

 WHEN

June 10, 2023 at 9:00am – June 11, 2023 (GMT+2)

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A press release from the Mouvement de la Paix

No to the war economy proposed by the President of the Republic through the draft Military Programming Law (LPM 2024-2030) of 413 billion € (i.e. 40% increase compared to the previous law), which includes around 50 billion euros for nuclear weapons

In his greetings to the armed forces, pronounced at the Mont-de-Marsan air base on January 20, 2023, President Macron declared his desire “that the 2024-2030 military programming law reflect considerable efforts… which oblige us for decades …because we must never be one war behind, but we must be one war ahead”! It proposes a new LPM of 413 billion euros (+ 40% compared to the last LPM) including fifty billion for nuclear weapons. This would violate the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signed by France) and the TIAN (Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, entered into force on January 21, 2021).

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Does military spending lead to economic decline and collapse?

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We refuse this crazy spending for war! Yes to an economy for peace! Let us refuse to be drawn into this logic of war, the disastrous economic, financial, social and ecological consequences of which we are already suffering, the extent of which we find difficult to imagine, including in the event of the use of nuclear weapons. Let us demand the reorientation of budgets towards social needs: salaries, pensions, health – hospitals, education and research, public services – job creation, fight to reduce climate change!

France must choose the side of PEACE and social and climate justice. France must act for a political and diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine and for all the ongoing conflicts (Palestine, Yemen, Kivu, etc.) instead of engaging our country in the infernal cycle of war maintained by the military- industrialist who alone benefits from it.

France, instead of inserting itself into the orientations of NATO, should propose and act for solutions based on the United Nations Charter (*), the SDGs (Sustainable Development Objectives), the work of the IPCC and UN Resolutions for a Culture of Peace.

War is never the solution, but always the worst for the people! The human security of peoples (physical, health, food, social, ecological) cannot develop without PEACE.

The Mouvement de la Paix calls on the population to act, in the largest popular gathering, to build our future together through a mobilization campaign which will take place from April 6 to the end of June with a highlight on May 21 with rallies on the places related to nuclear weapons (SNLE-NG base at L’île longue near Brest, Le Barp in Aquitaine (nuclear tests in the laboratory) etc: “Let’s build a future for life, peace, social and climate justice, including nuclear disarmament”.

Our objective is to convince as many parliamentarians as possible to vote against this military programming law, to say no to this war economy project and to get France to act with determination, as a signatory of the NPT ( nuclear non-proliferation treaty), in favor of nuclear disarmament by signing the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons (TPNW).

Mr. President of the Republic, ladies and gentlemen parliamentarians “NO MORE BOMBS!)

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A press release from Mouvement de la Paix (translation by CPNN)

China has presented a document for a just and lasting peace entitled “Global Security Initiative”.

This initiative follows a document presented by XI Jinping in 2022 and has the support of many countries.

This twelve-point document notes the growing turbulence and conflict in the world and proposes to promote lasting peace through dialogue rather than confrontation.

It insists, among other things,
– On respect for the sovereignty of each country,
– On the rejection of the use of nuclear weapons and the cessation of research and development of chemical and biological weapons,
– On abandoning the Cold War mentality,
– On the cessation of hostilities and the opening of negotiations,
-On the resolution of the humanitarian crisis and the protection of civilians and prisoners of war,
-On the safety of nuclear power plants.

Unsurprisingly, the USA, NATO and the North Atlantic world have worked to minimize this initiative. It is not credible in their eyes “because of the good relations between China and Russia”.

The President of the European Commission explained “that China had taken the side of Moscow”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken even believed he had secret information saying that “China was preparing to deliver weapons to Russia”.

In this distressing context, Emmanuel Macron’s position seems almost courageous, by “daring” to underline the obvious by saying that “the fact that China is committed to peace efforts is completely good” and by announcing “a next trip to Beijing”.

On the other hand, among many countries of the Global South, Beijing’s initiative was received much more favorably, considering this document as “an important contribution”, in particular “on the need to avoid the use of nuclear weapons”.

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This position echoes the words of the UN Secretary General who is worried about “a major risk for humanity”.

Brazil, through the voice of its President Lula, has advanced an approach similar to that of Beijing by calling for “the creation of a group of countries not involved in the conflict in order to assume responsibility for restoring peace”.

Lula explains that “the Chinese text reaffirms the main principles of the UN on the sovereignty of each country and urges Russia and Ukraine to strictly comply with international humanitarian law” and denounces “any recourse to nuclear weapons explicitly disavowing Vladimir Putin when he decreed the suspension of his country from participation in the SALT 2 agreement.

It also proposes, “a new global governance with an enlargement of the UN Security Council which would lead to permanent seats for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean”.

President Lula also speaks for the non-aligned countries, believing that “V. Zelensky and NATO bore some responsibility in the process that led to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, following the installation of military bases on the borders of Russia”. He specifies that “Brazil refuses to supply any arms”.

While it is indeed important to remember this fact, it is just as important to remember that nothing can justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Finally, it was from Ukraine that came the clearest proof of the seriousness of the Chinese peace initiative since Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he wanted to “meet Xi Jinping” adding that “it would be important for global security”.

This set of reactions reinforces the position of Mouvement de la Paix that we cannot conceive of peace on the basis of a military victory for one camp or another.

It is the essence of any political settlement and the condition of a lasting peace to respond to the legitimate interests of the various parties in conflict.

It is urgent and essential, from Moscow to Washington, via Brussels and the European capitals, that the terms peace, ceasefire and negotiation reappear in the diplomatic vocabulary.

Strong and concerted diplomatic initiatives are urgently needed.

It should be noted that since March 10, Saudi Arabia and Iran, two enemy powers, have – after a seven-year interruption – reestablished their diplomatic relations. This agreement, concluded under the auspices of China, shows that the hope of peace can be born even where one did not expect it.

This new example of diplomacy in the service of peace must encourage pacifists to seize all opportunities, wherever they come from, to advance the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.

This is one more reason to continue popular mobilizations in France and worldwide to demand an end to the fighting and a negotiated outcome, for a lasting peace in compliance with the United Nations Charter.