Ten thousand people, according to the police, demonstrated this Saturday in the center of Berlin to demand negotiations with Moscow, instead of handing over their weapons to Kiev, one year and one day after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Organized by the far-left politician Sahra Wagenknecht and the activist Alice Schwarzer, the demonstration, which has the slogan “defend yourself for peace”, has been accompanied by controversy, since several far-right figures have joined this initiative.
Beneath the Brandenburg Gate, Wagenknecht and Schwarzer took the floor to call for “diplomacy instead of arms surrender” to the protesters gathered on a cold, rainy and sleet day.
Since February 10, Wagenknecht and Schwarzer have also launched an online petition titled “Manifesto for Peace”, which calls for more than 645,000 signatures.
According to a Berlin police spokesperson, other demonstrations by the same movement were announced, as well as counter-demonstrations. Fearing clashes, the police mobilized around 1,400 troops.
On Friday, a year after the start of the Russian offensive, several demonstrations against the war in Ukraine were held in Germany, including one, also at the Brandenburg Gate, illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Also in Madrid, hundreds of people demonstrated this Saturday in favor of peace in Ukraine and against Russian President Vladimir Putin and NATO, demanding a peaceful end to the war, which does not contribute to the “war escalation “which, according to the protesters, is being promoted by both Russia and the Atlantic Alliance.
Convened by the Popular Assembly against the War, which brings together dozens of groups, organizations and unions, the demonstration brought together around a thousand people, according to data from the Government Delegation in the Community of Madrid.
The demonstrators marched through the center of the capital until they reached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During the protest, led by a banner reading “No war: Russian troops out of Ukraine, no NATO intervention”, the participants chanted chants such as “Military budgets for schools and hospitals”, “Neither Putin nor the NATO: they are not progressives.” , are militarists” and carried signs with “slogans” such as “Just Peace” or “Death to War”.
Lucía Nistal, spokeswoman for the Popular Assembly against the War, highlighted in statements to journalists that the reason for the protest is “to say very clearly that neither Putin nor NATO”, censuring the conflict and the war budgets, in addition to sending ten tanks heavy Leopard2 for Ukraine, announced by the leader of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, during his trip to Kiev this Thursday.
“We understand that escalating militarily, escalating with sanctions, escalating with the shipment of arms and also money only contributes to prolonging the war and in the end there will be more deaths, refugees and crises that we also pay for in the Spanish State”, he said. .
Along the same lines, the co-spokesperson for Unidas Podemos in the Madrid Assembly, Alejandra Jacinto, defended a ceasefire to end what she described as a massacre and also the pain that the “unjust war” is causing to the Ukrainian people.
“Today, more than ever, I believe we must redouble our efforts to support this ceasefire, establish diplomatic channels and stop the pain and bleeding of the people who are dying as a result of this war,” he told reporters.
Source: TSF
