From reading the corporate media, you’d never know that thousands of Germans, Italians, Brits, French and other European anti-war activists are marching in the street to tell their government to stop sending weapons to Ukraine and to call for a ceasefire. 

While the US Senate Armed Services Committee holds hearings on how to sell an escalated war to an increasingly skeptical public, governments in Europe are facing a wave of anti-war protests this winter. On the somber anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, protesters in a “Europe-wide Weekend of Action” raised banners that read, “Helmets today, tanks tomorrow, the day after your sons” in reference to Germany’s coalition government first sending 5,000 helmets to Ukraine, then recently agreeing to send Leopard II tanks. In England, the STOP the WAR Coalition organized protests in London, while Italians in Rome, Florence, Milan and Genoa marched against the transfer of weapons to Ukraine–with some chanting “Exit Italy from NATO.”

Join CODEPINK Congress as we talk to leaders of the European peace movement to learn more about the actions, strategies and challenges for peace activists who say NO to NATO and YES to peace.

Featuring

Lisa Clark is an Italian peace activist and co-president of the International Peace Bureau (IPB). She lived in Sarajevo, a city under siege in the 1990s, and then in other areas of Bosnia and in Kosovo, where she supported nonviolent groups; she later participated in human rights and election monitoring missions around the world, from Palestine to Somalia. Since 2005, when the US Federation of Atomic Scientists revealed the presence of US nuclear weapons on two Italian air bases, Lisa’s activism has concentrated on nuclear disarmament campaigns in Italy and internationally. 

Reiner Braun served as Executive Director of the Nobel-prize winning International Peace Bureau (IPB) from 2017-2022. He currently leads a worldwide IPB Common Security Initiative, based on the idea that nations and populations can only feel safe when their counterparts feel safe. From 2006 until 2017, Braun was the executive director of the German section of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms. His books include Einstein – Peace Now and Disarmament and Development. During the past year, Braun traveled to Moscow to meet with those opposed to the war in Ukraine.

Take Action!

On this International Women's Day, like IWD 2003, we are calling on the world to end wars. We are asking our global community who wants peace to join CODEPINK in the streets for International Women's Day, and to sign our petition to President Biden calling on him to stop stoking war with Russia and China and to push for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine. Endlessly fueling the war only puts more people at risk. 20 years ago on IWD, women from around the world gathered to call for an end to war – on IWD 2023, our demands remain the same. 

Google Group & Local Leaders

Join our CODEPINK Congress Google Group, a space for sharing events and actions. Request to be added here!

Become a CODEPINK Congress liaison in your district to mobilize support for demilitarization and progressive foreign policy! Sign up here as a volunteer organizer.

Join our writers group to share Letters to the Editor and OpEds by emailing [email protected]!

P.S. Our co-founder Medea Benjamin is currently on a book tour to talk about her latest release, War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, co-authored with Nicolas Davies. If you are interested in bringing Medea to your community, in attending upcoming events in your area, or in ordering the book, click here for more info! 

Finally, if you missed our last meeting, you can view it here on YouTube. View the entire CODEPINK Congress archives here.

Onward toward peace and justice,
Medea, Marcy, Hanieh, Maha, and the entire CODEPINK team