CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt reports back from recent actions against US nuclear weapons coming to Britain and looks ahead to protest against wider US and NATO militarism.
Over 250 peace activists joined the Blockade of RAF Lakenheath organised by Lakenheath Alliance for Peace in April. It was the culmination of a two-week long peace camp to shine a spotlight on the role this base plays in US / NATO militarism. The camp brought together peace campaigners from across the world, activists new to protesting and local residents outraged by this US nuclear base in their community.
The actions took place in the context of strengthening NATO militarism across Europe and Britain. Trump’s plans to secure a settlement in Ukraine are being used to whip up international tensions by Britain and countries across Europe in order to justify huge, cold-War level increases in military spending.
As NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has stated, it means that US plans to ‘shift towards Asia will be “co-ordinated” with European allies’.
With reports that B61-12 US nuclear bombs are now being delivered to NATO bases across Europe, Trump’s coordination with allies is clear. The European Union has created a €800bn funding package to drive this militarism – rapidly rebranded from ‘Rearm Europe’ to ‘Readiness 2030’. The 2030 date is when Europe must be ready to militarily confront Russia or repel such an attack. Meanwhile, Macron’s nuclear-sharing proposal for Europe risks French nuclear-armed Rafel jets being deployed on Russia’s border.
The massive re-armament programme at Trump’s behest is based on the same decades-long failed strategy of maintaining the US as the dominant super-power. And it has led to the inter-connected crises we face today: growing nuclear threats and war, climate breakdown, worsening global inequality and austerity, and the resurgence of the far right.
Calls coming out of the International Conference organised by Lakenheath Alliance for Peace as part of the camp urged coordinated global actions against NATO and militarism.
These calls echoed the European-wide initiative ‘Stop ReArm’, a coalition of peace and anti-militarism organisations, that CND has joined, opposing the rise in militarism.
CND participated in its first organising meeting early May where the coalition agreed to support a week of coordinated action from Saturday 21 June to Saturday 28 June against NATO and the rise in militarism.
The weekend before NATO’s 76th summit in The Hague in the Netherlands, CND will be joining international activists in a counter summit of debate and protest. CND supporters are also encouraged to support the Lakenheath Peace Alliance vigil on Saturday 28 June as part of the week of action.