2023 WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST A AND H BOMBS – AUGUST 4-9, 2023FORUM WORKSHOP 1 – FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPON-FREE WORLD

5.8.2023 – Hiroshima
Ulla Klötzer
Women for Peace – Women Against Nuclear Power – Finland
Active in Global Women for Peace United Against NATO

2023 World Conference Against A and H Bombs – August 4-9.
A nuclear weapon-free, peaceful and just world – solidarity and actions of civil society

First of all my warmest and most grateful thanks for having been invited to this extremely impressive and important event at one of the most tragic places in human history, where a huge superpower – the US – committed a brutal and never to be forgotten and forgiven crime against humanity.

We, who have gathered for this event – and all human beings around the world that care about Mother Earth and her inhabitants – have a moral obligation to prevent that such an unforgivable crime shall ever be committed again.

In order to do this we have to do our utmost to dissolve NATO – the strongest war machinery in the world encircling Russia and now also China in order to pursue the geopolitical and economic interests of the Western world, and above all the United States.

As long as this worldwide enlargement of NATO – a holocaust nuclear alliance – goes on, nuclear weapon countries and nuclear weapon hosting countries will never sign the TPNW Treaty.

Although the situation seems impossible to solve – and many of us feel rather desperate – there are small glimpses of hope.

Since March this year Women for Peace in Finland- in our home country looked upon as outlaws – have together with some strong women from WILPF (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom) US and a lot of courageous women from different parts of the world – formed a coalition – Global Women for Peace United Against NATO – which has now spread to some 40 countries in the world.

We met ahead of the NATO Summit in July in Brussels. We had a meeting in the European Parliament, we brought our Declaration, condemning all NATO activities and aims, to the NATO headquarters and we arranged webinars covering Europe, US/Canada, Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America.

In the NATO headquarters, one of the directors for public diplomacy, Nicola diSantis told the fairytale of NATO promoting democracy, western values and peace in the world.

We however, are aware of all the cruel wars NATO has been involved in all over the world, we know how money – badly needed for the developing countries, for social welfare, health care and education-  is used for totally insane military purposes.

NATOs demand for 2 % of member countries GDP for the military sector is not the ceiling but the bottom – we have to give more – much more!

All over Europe there has been riots and demonstrations last autumn and winter because of less money for the people; poor salaries, high energy prices, higher prices for foodstuff and so on.

How long will ordinary people accept more money for the military sector?

And how is NATO going to cope internally with other controversial issues like

• The NATO enlargement in the Asia Pacific – aiming at encircling and isolating China?

• African states becoming more and more aware of NATOs geopolitical selfish economic agenda – a new colonialism

• Latin American countries not supporting the sanctions on Russia

• Serious tensions between the European Union – of which 22 out of 27 member states are also members of NATO – and Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) not wanting to be suppliers of raw materials for other countries to process industrially

• How will the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) position themselves as representatives of the Global South, providing ”an alternative model to the G7?

         Many other countries have expressed interest to join the BRICS

         group.

         According to South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor 

         worldwide interest in the BRICS group is ”huge.”

         BRICS nations offer an attractive alternative to the Western world

         order aiming at full spectrum dominance.

         Are we eventually facing a completely new world order?

And finally, when NATO promotes itself as a protector of it’s member states, we have to be aware of that among the member states we have certain strong powers that have shown their capability to harm the wellbeing of the industry and people of other allied states.

The sabotage in September 2022 of the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and Germany – but reaching also other European countries – was a brutal attack against crucial infrastructure.

Now much more expensive LNG (liquefied natural gas) gas is brought to Europe from the US and partly also from Norway whilst the population in some European countries is strangled by high gas bills, and a considerable part of for instance German industry is considering moving their production to the US that offers them favourable investment packages.

Lord Hastings NATO’s first Secretary Generalsaid earlier on in his political career:

“NATO has to keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

The Present general secretary Jens Stoltenberg has fulfilled this goal, and now he is – guided by the US – heading at China and Latin America.

Keep China down by sanctions and militarizing the Asia Pacific area and let NATO get access to all the valuable natural resource of Latin America.

We have to do our utmost to stop this – we have to strengthen cooperation worldwide – we have to support and inspire each other in all possible ways – we have to be courageous and tireless – we have to do this in the name of our children, grandchildren and all the children in the world.

We owe this to those of our ancestors who have done their utmost for the survival of this wonderful blue planet. We owe this to all the ones that have suffered and still have to suffer unimaginable pain due to brutal war crimes against humanity.

Arigato  – Thank you!