Dear comrades,

On behalf of the German coordination of the „European Liaison Committee against War – against Social War“ (ELC), I welcome you to Berlin.

More than a year ago, on 8 July 2023, at our European Conference, we defined as our mission to unite the forces of resistance against the warmongering, socially destructive and anti-democratic policies of governments at European level and thus strengthen them in each of our countries.

On September 30, we established the „European Liaison Committee against War – against Social War“ (ELC) for this purpose.

Today, in a situation where we are faced, in addition to the war in Ukraine in the Middle East, with Netanyahu’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people and its extension to Lebanon and beyond, we see how right the decision to create the CEL was.

I do not intend to go over the whole of our work here. I will simply mention the Oslo Conference and the Balkans Conference in Belgrade, which took place before our conference today.

The war in Ukraine, in which more than a million Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have already been killed or wounded, but even more so the genocidal war, in which more than 42,000 Palestinians, including many women and children, have been killed and villages and towns devastated, have mobilized millions of people in Europe and around the world to protest and demonstrate.

This war against the Palestinian people also affects the West Bank and is now leading to a war against Lebanon. Under American command, they are preparing for war against Iran.

US President Biden continues to support Netanyahu by supplying him with billions of dollars in weapons, while German Chancellor Scholz has just promised to double arms exports to Israel. All governments in Europe bear responsibility for the genocide in Palestine.

The Ukrainian offensive on Russian territory, such as in Kursk, as well as Biden’s plan to deploy American medium-range missiles in Germany, with a range extending deep into Russia, signal that the US government, NATO, the EU and all European governments are banking on escalation and preparing for a major war against Russia.

In Palestine, it is about the right to existence and self-determination of the Palestinian people. In Ukraine, it is primarily about matters raw materials worth about 10 trillion US dollars, which people die for.

We are united in our struggle for the demands:

• Stop the massacre of the Palestinian population immediately!
• Stop all arms deliveries to Ukraine and Israel!
• Immediate ceasefire in Palestine and Ukraine!
• No to any military intervention by NATO troops in Ukraine!

And I would like to add:

• Stop the Netanyahu government’s war crimes in the Middle East!

Dear comrades,

In all European countries, we are witnessing increasingly massive attacks on democratic freedoms in order to stifle any resistance. Demonstrations, rallies, student camps for the defence of the Palestinian people are banned or dispersed by police force, the fundamental right to freedom of expression and assembly, democracy, are emptied of their substance. Those who take to the streets for peace are slandered as being open to the right or led by Putin, those who denounce Israel ’s war crimes are denigrated as antisemitic.

Let me add one thing. 80% of young people in Germany fear a war in Germany. They do not want to be sent to the front as cannon fodder. They are right, just like the hundreds of thousands of young people in Ukraine and Russia who are fleeing the war. They deserve our full solidarity!

Let me take the example of Germany to show how the Scholz government is preparing for war:

On the military level:

• The creation of a new NATO headquarters for Ukraine in Wiesbaden.
• A NATO command centre in Rostock for maritime warfare in the Baltic Sea was inaugurated a few days ago.
• The already mentioned deployment of American medium-range weapons in Germany.

At the civil level:

• The health system is reorganized to be adapted to war. Thanks to the transformation of hospitals into outpatient clinics, that is to say the reassignment of many hospitals, the beds are transferable like a field hospital. It is estimated that 1,000 soldiers are wounded every day.
• A few kilometres away, one of the largest and most modern population protection centres in Germany is being built. It can independently support 5,000 people in the event of a crisis – the war in Ukraine is cited as an example of a crisis.
• Civil clauses prohibiting military research in universities are removed, schools are opened as recruiting grounds for the German army.

On the economic level:

• The reinforced construction of an arms industry. Billions of huge investments are diverted from civilian production to arms production. Workers laid off from the bankrupt automobile industry find new jobs in arms companies.

In order to pay the costs of the war, the government is unleashing a social war against its own people. I do not want to repeat all the examples that we have already analysed many times. Whether it is real wages, pensions, social security, hospitals, schools or universities, the German welfare state, all the social achievements of the people are being dismantled.

To name just a few here:

Germany, the strongest industrial power in Europe, is suffering particularly from the brutal economic war that American imperialism is waging against Europe.

The policy of sanctions against Russia and the cutting of materials Russian raw materials such as gas have seriously damaged the German economy. High energy costs are causing industry to flee Germany.

For the first time in over 80 years, VW wants to close three factories. 250,000 to 300,000 jobs are at risk in the German metal and electrical industry.

But resistance is growing. Germany is experiencing the largest waves of strikes in defence of real wages, with the number of strike days in the ver.di sector alone quadrupling. The numerous company closures and job cuts will – as is now being announced at VW – provoke new struggles.

At the October 3 demonstration in Berlin, many trade unionists demonstrated, in conflict with a trade union leadership that supports the government’s war policy and denies any connection between the war and the attacks on social gains. These experiences certainly exist in other countries….

You will testify to this.

Dear comrades,

Resistance was also expressed during the elections. BSW, the party around Sahra Wagenknecht consistently opposed arms deliveries to Ukraine and Israel, and from the outset was active against the government’s war policy.

In the Bundestag, this party is the only political force that gives a voice to the „no“ of the majority of society to the wars and genocide in Palestine.

While the Scholz government is rejected by more than 80% of the population, BSW has achieved historic successes in the last three regional elections. Behind these developments is the „no“ of broad sections of the population against war, against social war.

Several other countries are experiencing similar developments. Comrades will certainly tell us about them.

Dear comrades,

Today we are gathered here, comrades from Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Croatia and Macedonia.

We are all active in trade unions, politically organised in different ways and have different traditions. We certainly disagree on some issues.

I also learned that there are similar movements in different countries, but the situations are also very different. For example, in Norway, where none of the established parties opposes the supply of arms to Ukraine, our comrades are now setting up a new anti-war party.

We have similar developments in Serbia and Sweden.

But the first assessment of the ELC shows that we can, in mutual respect for our respective experiences and opinions, allow differences to continue to be the subject of discussions.

Peace between peoples is the central concern of the workers‘ movement. Without wishing to compare, I would like to recall a historical event that marked the history of the workers‘ movement.

160 years ago, the First Workers ‚ International was founded, with the decisive participation of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. At the international workers ‚ assembly held in St Martin’s Hall on 28 September 1864, 160 years ago, the representatives of the English workers wrote in their address: „Let us discuss the great questions on which the peace of nations depends.“

Without comparing our assembly to this historical event, I would say today: let us act for this today. „It is not only when war kills 1000 soldiers per day, when freedoms are suppressed by censorship and martial law, that we can fight war, but before, when we can still organize and demonstrate. THIS TIME, WE MUST STOP THEM BEFORE!