The same day that Ursula von Der Leyen, president of the European Union, spoke of “investment” in defense instead of “spending,” like other political and military leaders present, thousands of people took to the streets of the Bavarian capital to protest against the rearmament discourse that dominates during the Munich Security Conference, the great international defense summit.
The most massive, and which has been carried out for decades, is known as “AntiSiko” (Alliance against the Security Conference and NATO in German), which encompasses numerous left-wing political, union and civil organizations.
“Countries see that this old world order has disappeared, international law is increasingly being violated and they believe that with rearmament they will guarantee security. And this is precisely what the history of humanity has shown has never worked. When a country rearms, the neighboring country does the same and that ends in an escalation that increases the risk of war. Our main message is to return to the principles of international law included in the United Nations Charter, which asks States to renounce violence and resolve conflicts. conflicts with dialogue,” he explains to elDiario.es the spokesman for the AntiSiko Alliance, Heinz Michael Vilsmeier.
A human chain from Karlsplatz was dressed in white PPE with the words “Stopp Aufrüstung” (stop rearmament). One of those people is Julia, who carries the flag of Diem25, “Democracy in Europe Movement”, the movement founded by former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. “As long as the so-called Security Conference exists, there will be protests for peace and against militarization. This chain aims to make a symbolic circle with the demonstration that will surround the Conference building,” says Julia.
At the beginning of the demonstration, dozens of young people from Munich march, saying “no to compulsory military service” and calling for another school strike on March 5. Those who turned 18 this January have already received the form from the Bundeswehr where they must answer questions about their health, education and degree of interest in serving in the armed forces. In Germany, military service remains voluntary, but men are obliged to respond with their information to that letter.
At Marienplatz, where there is a stage set up to close the demonstration, everyone’s attention is drawn to a statue of Donald Trump on top of the shoulders of a person who symbolizes humanity and who plays golf with a world ball, while holding the scales of Justice in his right hand. “The Orange Plague, King of Injustice” says below.
The artist Dylan Cawthorne is part of the collective of artists that has traveled from Denmark to Munich to make art-protests on the occasion of the conference. “I’m an American, I’ve been living in Denmark for 15 years and the Greenland conflict has affected me a lot because I see it from both sides and it is an example of the United States acting aggressively, and this time it was against a country that many considered an ally. My interpretation of this play is that a powerful person is crushing a powerless person,” explains Cawthorne.
There is also an alternative conference called Peace Conference which is in its 24th edition and which brings guests on the same days as an antithesis to the official one and which this year is titled “Against the current of violence” and which offers explanatory workshops on the export of German weapons in the world.
“The women’s protection movement” (“Frauen Schutz Bewegung) is present at a stall on Odeonsplatz, where the second mobilization against rearmament of the organization “Macht frieden” (“Make peace”) is taking place, bringing together around 1,500 people. “As our grandmothers knew, no mother in the world wants her children to die in a war. Those above decide, not those below and we do not need to defend ourselves against anything. They are only interested in money. We don’t need any Army to kill others. “Let them do real politics,” Olivia, a member of the movement, tells elDiario.es.
Wearing a sweatshirt with the words “no war” in English, Benjamin Treppe, one of the spokespersons for this mobilization, tells us: “After two world wars we wrote the word peace on the first page of our Magna Carta. Therefore, we are obliged to serve peace and that means not sending weapons to war zones and doing everything possible to achieve it.”
Some opinions of German protesters diametrically opposed to the so-called “Change or die” that is present in the exhibition dedicated to Ukraine at the Security Conference and whose words Von der Leyen repeated this morning: “As they say in Ukraine, you either change or die”, to convince European partners to make forceful reforms that involve greater spending on Defense as part of the new European Security strategy.
The authorities reported a total of 21 demonstrations called for this weekend. In addition to those opposed to rearmament, the most massive took place, with around 100,000 people, against the Iranian regime, led by the exiled leader Reza Pahlavi.