More of 300 demonstrators gathered on Sunday Place de la Liberté in Brest to denounce nuclear weapons. This parade, on this date, is no coincidence, it is four days before the summit bringing together the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs of the 27 countries of the European Union. The ministers will meet from January 12 to 14 in Brest. The objective of the participants is to put pressure on elected officials. They want Europe quit nuclear deterrence as a principle of defense and peace.
The procession is strewn with the flags of the various organizations against nuclear weapons: PCF, CGT, Europe-Ecologie Les Verts, but also The movement for peace or Cian 29, the Finistère collective for the prohibition of nuclear weapons, at the origin of the mobilization. Belgian and Portuguese representatives for the end of nuclear weapons even came to make speeches. “The wars, there have been enough, maybe we have to think a little differently”, says Annie. She does not want France to continue to follow NATO and the United States, or create a Europe of defense. “I do not see what we can go to support the war decisions of the United States. To have a Europe also of defense, I believe that it is better to think of negotiation, of diplomacy”, she adds.
It is better to think about negotiation, about diplomacy. “- Annie, demonstrator pro abolition of nuclear weapons.
Reine comes from Saint Malo on purpose, and above all she wants one thing: the ratification by France and European countries of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force a year ago now. “We are in favor of France, which will chair the European Council, to lead a policy in this direction”, says the Malouine. The message sent by this meeting is, for her, not the correct one.
Useful citizen actions
Citizen actions can have weight for Roland de Penanros, one of the spokespersons of the collective for the prohibition of nuclear weapons in Finistère. “There have been other fights before these: biological weapons, chemical weapons … It has always been public opinion actions that have changed things”, he assures. Other actions are planned during the informal meeting of 54 European Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, in particular a picnic this Thursday in front of the Capuchins, the place of the meeting.