An end to military occupations.

This crisis shows how nothing has really changed since the end of the Second World War. The mercantile, crude and warlike vision still rules the world. From all sides, propaganda information assures us that all belligerents are guarantors of human rights.

At the end of the Second World War, the Soviet Union satellitized the countries of Eastern Europe.
In another form, the US did the same in Western Europe. Nuclear weapons and US troops were installed in our countries, without any democratic control or consultation of the states concerned. The military aspect of these occupations became a reality with NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

In 1962, the US government did not tolerate the presence of Russian nuclear missiles in Cuba. This was a response to the implantation of American missiles in Turkey and Europe (Belgium, Holland, Italy, Germany) from 1954 onwards.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact was dissolved, but not NATO. The latter was committed not to expand geographically to the East. This commitment was not respected, with new countries joining the alliance, notably: Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Northern Macedonia, …

Today, Russia does not want more NATO bases on its doorstep, which is foreshadowed by the presence of a permanent NATO office in Kiev. In February 2019, the Ukrainian parliament amended the constitution to allow Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union.

In terms of economic issues, the commissioning of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline, which should double Russian gas import capacity to Germany and Europe, has been suspended since November 2021, under pressure from the United States, which does not want to lose its hegemony over Western Europe.

It is also worth remembering that the belligerents on both sides have often supported numerous dictatorships in Latin America, Asia and Africa out of economic interest, without any concern for human rights and democracy.

In the face of Putin’s warlike attack, the West opposes economic sanctions and sends logistical aid (financing, arms, fuel) and humanitarian aid. Surprisingly enough, compared to other conflicts and situations, there is now room and budgets for refugees.

Russia has announced that it is putting its nuclear ‘deterrent’ arsenal on alert. It would be naive to think that NATO members have not done the same. So here we are at the maximum risk of a war between nuclear powers. This is a serious and dangerous situation for the whole of humanity. A repeat of the crimes against humanity in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 must be avoided at all costs.

We strongly urge all parties to
– An immediate cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and a return to dialogue
– An immediate halt to any irresponsible nuclear threat, the consequences of which would be dramatic for humanity

In this context, the Humanist Party can only recall what we have been demanding for decades:

– nuclear disarmament on a global scale,
– the immediate withdrawal of all military troops stationed outside their national borders
– the progressive and proportional reduction of conventional armaments,
– the signing of non-aggression treaties between countries,
– the renunciation by governments of the use of war as a means of conflict resolution.

These demands, if they had been heard, would have made it possible to avoid the suffering that the Ukrainian population is undergoing today. They would allow the whole of humanity to live in peace.

In the particular case of Belgium, these demands require:
– Leave NATO
– Demand the departure of the NATO headquarters and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) from our borders.
– Demand the immediate repatriation of the US nuclear weapons at Kleine Brogel.
– To enshrine in the constitution the renunciation of war as a means of conflict resolution.
– Stop the production of weapons, notably at the Fabrique Nationale, a company whose sole shareholder is the Walloon region.

These demands would require the return to the country of all the “colonial” troops still present everywhere in the world. It is necessary to put an end to all these military occupations and to open the way to real democracy and the right to self-determination of the Peoples.

Few of our leaders have the courage, let alone an ambitious project for Humanity, so there is little chance that our demands will be heard.

So, we say to the men and women involved in the war: Go home, embrace your partner, your parents and your children. Do not collaborate in this massacre. Civil disobedience and the choice of non-violence is the only strong and courageous act!
And to all others of good will: write, broadcast, take to the streets to denounce all forms of violence.

In his book “Humanising the Earth”, Silo, founder of the Universalist Humanist, in the chapter “The Human Landscape”, tells us:

“I renounce any clan that proclaims an ideal higher than life and any cause that, in order to impose itself, generates suffering. So, before accusing me of not being part of factions, examine your hands to see if you do not discover the blood of accomplices. If you think it is brave to join these factions, what will you say about the one whom all the murderous clans accuse of not joining? I want a cause worthy of the human landscape: one that is committed to overcoming pain and suffering.”

Let us lift our hearts!

For the Humanist Party in Belgium
Gilles Smedts