From left to right: Inga Blum, Ernst-Ludwig Iseknius, Ria Makein, Johannes Willbold, Gerd Büntzly, Miriam Menzel-Krämer, Lies Welker, Christiane Danowski
On May 8, the day Germans commemorate the end of a fascist regime and the end of World War II, seven opponents of war entered the Büchel air base. They nonviolently disrupted the preparation for nuclear war by obstructing construction work for the new runway. The new runway is a prerequisite for the deployment of new nuclear weapons that will soon be stationed in Büchel.
The participants from all over Germany, aged between 43 and 75, thus set a sign for life on the anniversary of the end of the war and demanded an end to the threat of mass destruction, which violates international law. They were arrested and taken to the police station in Cochem before being released.
“Germany’s nuclear sharing violates the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the human right to life,” says Miriam Menzel-Krämer, 58, a peace worker from Aalen.
“The risk of nuclear war is already extremely high. The planned nuclear arms buildup is exacerbating tensions related to the war in Ukraine further and heats up the nuclear arms race in Europe”, added Gerd Büntzly, 73, musician from Herford.
Scientists warn that in times of high political tensions there is a great risk of nuclear war due to misunderstandings or false alarms. For example, the German Informatics Society wrote this in an Open Letter to Chancellor Scholz in 2022.
For the Action Group, nuclear weapons and climate change are the greatest threats to humanity. On today’s day of liberation from a fascist regime, the group is calling on the German government to comply with international law and join the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
