Europeans, open letter to the candidates of the North East: “Europe for war or peace?”

The letter is from representatives of various Bolognese associations involved in the field of peace, justice and rights gathered in the network of peace artisans of the Portico della Pace

ROME – An open letter to the candidates of the North East constituency for the European elections. The letter is from representatives of various Bolognese associations involved in the field of peace, justice and rights gathered in the network of the peace artisans of the Portico della Pace who highlight the need for a European policy based on peace and disarmament.

Here’s what they wrote: “We want to bring to your attention, in the run-up to the European elections, a topic that has so far not been sufficiently addressed in the current electoral campaign: the need for an overall and organic European policy of peace and disarmament , on par with a European Union born on the rubble of two world wars with their 80,000,000 deaths, as well as – for the Italian candidates – consistent with the constitutional principle of the repudiation of war as a means of resolving international disputes (art. 11 Constitution) In addition to fidelity to our constitutional principles, we would like to know the positions you will bring to Europe on the issue of the army and European and Italian military spending.
The Constitution says that “the defense of the homeland is the sacred duty of the citizen”, but this duty can be carried out in a non-violent way, as provided for by the 1972 law which provides for the possibility of carrying out, instead of armed military service, an alternative civil service of utility social. In Italy, more than 800,000 young people have chosen the alternative civil service since 1976.
What does the defense model you are looking at envisage? Huge resources subtracted from social spending to be invested in arsenals and troops, to then be used in war scenarios where they will produce millions more deaths? Or an economic policy that strengthens the country through the defense of the weakest groups, health and education, and which involves the involvement of all citizens in the sacred duty of defending the homeland through models of unarmed civil defense and action of the Civil Peace Corps?
We know from the Nonviolent Movement, from the Italian Peace and Disarmament Network and from the national media that as regards the Italian army, currently made up only of professional volunteers, the compulsory military service for young males it is only suspended and could be reintroduced by the Government with a simple circular. Recently some government representatives have expressed their desire to reintroduce compulsory military service with a bill ‘as an educational moment’ for everyone, men and women. What do you think?
In the current climate of ‘piecemeal world war’, as Pope Francis says, worldwide and Italian military spending has grown a lot, as have armed conflicts, like the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the armed conflict between Israel and Palestine. We are not open to the return of compulsory military service and if this happens, we will exercise the right to conscientious objection to military service, opting for civil service. The increasingly widespread Peace Departments throughout the territory, the resolutions and agendas of the municipal and regional Councils in support of peace and disarmament policies clearly indicate the valuable action of a “diplomacy from below” in support of mediation and pacification processes , a real expression of the will and political demand of Citizens, which finds adequate expression in urban and regional community circuits much more than in the panorama of mainstream national communication. If we want peace, the time has come to organize peace, with adequate and appropriate political instruments and institutions: when will the Ministry of Peace be established in Italy and other European countries? When will a Peace Commissioner be established within the European Commission? We stand in solidarity with Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Israeli and Palestinian conscientious objectors, draft evaders and deserters, and we believe that they should find asylum in Italy according to the provisions of the Italian Constitution (art. 10), as well as in Europe according to the provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights which protects the right to conscientious objection (art. 10 c. 2). If elected, will you commit to protecting and supporting the exercise of this right?
What do you think of the current boom in military spending and the profits of arms manufacturing companies? In the 1980s the European Union, in a phase of improvement in international relations, had created and financed a European project (Konver) to help war companies to reconvert to civilian production, and significant results had been obtained, even in Italy. Don’t you think the time has come to seriously address this issue again, stopping the boom in military spending also through the creation of instruments that make these policies feasible?
Finally, Italy and many European countries have not ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The presence on the European continent of hundreds (in the West) or thousands (in Russia) of nuclear warheads, the modification of military doctrines with increasingly explicit scenarios of tactical use of such weapons, the risk now plastically on the horizon of a possible nuclear catastrophe they indicate the urgency and require an unprecedented commitment towards progressive and total nuclear disarmament. The city communities on which those nuclear weapons are aimed are increasingly asking for it loudly, in the Italy of 100 cities and the bottom-up diplomacy mentioned above. Will you want to hear their cry and effectively represent the political will of many citizens?”

And they conclude: “These are the questions we intend to ask you, and that thousands of citizens of Bologna and the entire metropolitan area would like to ask you. If you want to give them attention and listen, we await your answers at the address: porticodellapace@ gmail.com Below is the summary communication of our questions which will be shared in the next few days on local media and the social channels of our network”.