Thousands of Germans rally against U.S. military hegemony
Thousands gathered in southwestern German town Ramstein to protest against U.S. military hegemony and demanded the U.S. military to withdraw from Germany.
Holding banners reading “No weapon transportation to Ukraine” and “Americans go home”, about 1,500 people joined in the march, Reuters reported.
Many pacifists delivered speeches denouncing the U.S. military hegemony in front of the U.S. air force base in the town.
“You know we have 22 wars in the world and about 200 military or armed conflicts. In the main majority of these conflicts, the United States of America is a part of it. So, the U.S. is a key player when we are discussing a world to war or world to peace. This means, we must develop much more pressure on the United States and on NATO to go to another way, to go to a way of common security,” said Rainer Braun, a pacifist.
Since the conflict erupted between Russia and Ukraine, the air base in Ramstein has played an important role. The NATO-led contact group on Ukraine’s defense holds meetings regularly at the base, discussing plans on providing military support for Ukraine.
“It is obvious that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a long-planned action of the United States, which is proved by U.S. documents. The U.S. wanted to bring Ukraine into its sphere of influence long time ago. It also coerced Europe into all its military operations. The Ramstein air base is a pivot. The promises of the U.S. are hypocritical. The U.S. military here is not to protect Europe but to launch military operations all over the world,” said Oskar Lafontaine, former Finance Minister.
Demonstrators criticized that the U.S.-led NATO continued to add fuel to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine by sending weapons and conducting large-scale military exercises. They called on Western countries to stop providing arms to Ukraine and resolve the crisis in Ukraine through peaceful means.
“We hope that people can re-examine the war by our demonstration as the U.S. has been violating international law through wars. We firmly believe that what brings peace is negotiations not weapons. Only diplomacy and nothing else can end the war,” said Luik, organizer of the demonstration