Saturday 5th March 2005,
9.30am - 5pm,
Mechanics Institute,
103
Princess St, central Manchester
People from across
Europe will take part
in A Europe for Peace, an
international conference in Manchester on the 5th March 2005.
The Conference, organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (UK)
and Mouvement de la Paix (France), will demand an immediate withdrawal
of US nuclear weapons from Europe. Speakers at the conference will
include Tobias Pflueger, MEP, (Germany), Jeremy Corbyn MP, Caroline
Lucas MEP (UK), Arielle Denis, Co President of the Mouvement de la Paix
(France), Kate Hudson, Chair of CND (UK) and Roger Cole, Peace and
Neutrality Alliance (Republic of Ireland).
A recent
report by the Natural Resources Defense Council
revealed that there are 480 US Nuclear weapons in Europe.
An estimated 110 of these bombs are based at Lakenheath airbase in the
UK. Under the guise of an expanding NATO the US is also able to store
its nuclear weapons in non-nuclear weapon states in Europe. Around 150
are kept in three bases in Germany; 90 in south-eastern Turkey, 90 in
Italy, and 20 each in Belgium and the Netherlands. Under international
law a nuclear weapons state is prohibited from transferring nuclear
weapons to a non-nuclear weapons state, so these weapons should leave
the European continent on legal grounds as well as moral and political
ones.
Kate
Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament who is speaking at
the conference said, "Much of Europe is now integrated into NATO, but
how many of us are aware that NATO has a first-use nuclear policy, and
that around 480 US nuclear weapons are littered across Europe, mostly in
countries that are not themselves nuclear weapons states. Given the US's
current war-like posturing this is bad news for Europe. Where will the
US attack next? Iran? And will it use these weapons? There must be an
immediate withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Europe."
Caroline
Lucas MEP who is also speaking at the Conference said, "Europe must not
be the front line for aggressive US foreign policy. We need a Europe
without US nuclear weapons under the guise of NATO. There must be a real
debate about the EU constitution. Do we want a militarised nuclear armed
Europe or a Europe which promotes peaceful, non-military solutions to
conflict?"
The
conference will be debating the key issues facing Europe today,
including the new European constitution, NATO expansion, US military
bases in Europe and Europe's relationship with international bodies such
as the UN. These issues are in urgent need of public debate. It is time
to decide whether we want a militarized, nuclear-armed Europe or one
which promotes peaceful, non-military solutions to conflict.
2.
For further information
on the conference and conference agenda
https://www.gmdcnd.org.uk/events/europepeace.htm
3.
Link to the full text
of the Non-Proliferation Treaty:
https://disarmament.un.org:8080/wmd/npt/npttext.html
5.
Link to report by the
Natural Resources Defense Council
https://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/euro/contents.asp
6.
New York Times article
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/09/politics/09nukes.html
