Thousands of demonstrators gathered across Germany for the annual Easter peace marches, a tradition dating back to the 1960s, calling for disarmament, diplomacy, and peaceful resolutions to ongoing global conflicts.
This year’s marches, organized by the Bonn-based Peace Cooperative Network (Netzwerk Friedenskooperative), are taking place in nearly 100 events across the country and are set to continue through Easter Monday, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.
Demonstrations have been held in major cities including Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Leipzig, Bremen, and Stuttgart. Kristian Golla, spokesperson for the network, said this year’s campaign is aimed at urging the incoming German coalition government to rethink its approach to defense policy.
The appeal calls for Germany to “become capable of peace rather than war.” "Instead of taking on new debt and spending several billions of euros on arms, disarmament agreements and clever diplomacy are needed" to end Russia's war on Ukraine and establish a joint European security architecture guaranteeing peace, Golla added. The Easter marches began on April 17 and will continue through April 21, the final day of Germany’s Easter holiday period. According to Golla, this year’s turnout has slightly exceeded that of recent years.
One of the major events is a three-day march that began in Duisburg and is making its way through the Ruhr region, passing through Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, and Bochum, with the final stop in Dortmund. In addition to opposing Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the arms buildup across Europe, protesters are also voicing opposition to the war in Gaza and the proposed stationing of US medium-range missiles in Germany. Each city is rallying under its own message.
In Bonn, demonstrators marched under the slogan "Yes to peace — no to combat readiness." In Kassel, the call was "Peace — disarmament — climate protection — come to the Easter march," and in Leipzig, protesters rallied "Against rearmament and cuts to social services."
By Naila Huseynova
Source: caliber.az
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