The ongoing war in Ukraine has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, destroyed hundreds of towns and villages, and forced millions of people to flee. The danger of escalation into a general war between Russia and NATO persists and continues to grow. The EL stresses once more that all political and diplomatic initiatives aimed at achieving a ceasefire, bringing the war to a lasting and durable end, and preventing any further escalation must be taken, strengthened, and implemented immediately.
From the first day, the EL has condemned Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine as a violation of international law and a denial of Ukraine’s sovereignty, reflecting an imperialist strategy to pursue its own political aims.
However, the EL has not aligned itself with the strategies of NATO and EU Member States or the European Commission, whose objective has been to end the war solely through military means and to draw Russia into a war of attrition in order to defeat it militarily.
Any durable peace agreement must be based on an honest reflection on the reasons for the war, its prehistory, and the interests of all parties involved. It must acknowledge that the opportunity to establish a collective European security system after the end of the bloc confrontation was deliberately missed. As a result, the war in Ukraine has become a battleground for the geopolitical and geo-economic power struggle between the Russian Federation, the United States, and the European Union. Our solidarity can only be with the victims—the soldiers, civilians, refugees, and conscientious objectors on both sides—and not with the imperialist interests that fuel the conflict.
The war might already have ended in spring 2022, when negotiators from Ukraine and Russia discussed a possible agreement in Istanbul outlining the basis for a ceasefire. The principles discussed in Istanbul still point toward a possible path to a peace settlement, alongside steps taken by third parties from the Global South:
- The Russian Federation must recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty and right to self-determination, immediately end hostilities, withdraw its troops, and provide guarantees for Ukraine’s security.
- Ukraine and must take into account the security interests of the Russian Federation and therefore renounce its intention to join NATO, adopting a status of military neutrality.
- The future of areas of Ukraine inhabited by Russian-speaking populations must be resolved in accordance with international law and European minority rights standards.
- A ceasefire and subsequent peace agreement must be guaranteed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and other willing states.
Russia’s illegal attack on Ukraine has provided NATO with the pretext for the most extensive rearmament program since 1945. The EL opposes this rearmament, which comes at the expense of the welfare state and investments in ecological transformation. Climate change and the possible ecological collapse caused by the accelerated melting of permafrost soils represent the greatest dangers to security and peace in Europe and beyond. Addressing these challenges and ensuring peaceful coexistence must become a core task for all relevant powers, governments, and economic actors, through the establishment of collective security structures and coordinated efforts. The EL therefore rejects the notion that peace must be secured primarily by military means rather than political ones.
A peace agreement in Ukraine must be embedded in a new European peace order. We seek a Europe that takes responsibility for its own security and can act autonomously.
The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe offered an important lesson. With the signing of the Helsinki Final Act, the leaders of the Western and Eastern blocs did not overcome their political antagonisms, but they recognized that security in Europe could only be achieved through cooperation. Returning to this fundamental insight—a new “Helsinki 2.0” process—is at the core of the EL’s security proposal.
An urgent objective is to eliminate the military risk posed by nuclear warheads stationed in Europe and kept on standby for mutual destruction. The EL strives for a nuclear-weapon-free Europe as part of a global agreement on nuclear disarmament, in accordance with the legally binding Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The EL also rejects any attempt to turn outer space into a new arena for the arms race or a battleground of economic rivalry between leading technological powers.
Walter Baier, an Austrian politician and economist based in Vienna, assumed the presidency of the Party of the European Left in December 2022. Previously, Baier was the national chairman of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) from 1994 to 2006 and editor of the Austrian magazine Volksstimme. Since 2000, he has worked on dialogue between atheists and Catholics through the project DIALOP, leading in the last years to meetings with Pope Ratzinger and Pope Francis. From 2007 to 2022, he was political coordinator and board member of the transform! europe network.
The Party of the European Left is a political party at the European level that was formed in 2004, comprising over 40 national parties that stand together for change. Besides its official members and observers, which include socialist, communist, red-green, and other democratic left parties, the EL also stands united with various left and progressive forces—grassroots organisations, trade unions, social movements, and activists—from all corners of Europe. transform! europe is the recognised corresponding political foundation of the EL.
