Autor/Autorin
The Bochum Peace Plenum and the Fritz Bauer Forum organised a panel discussion on Anti-War Day in the run-up to this year’s Bundestag elections. The topic was: „ Rethinking security? A discussion on peace and security policy issues“. The background to the invitation was that armaments and disarmament, military missions abroad and other highly relevant security and peace policy issues have largely been pushed out of the public debate since the beginning of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, citizens have a right to know the parties‘ stance on these issues before the general election. After all, the new parliament and the future federal government are facing important decisions.
The event at the Jahrhunderthaus in Bochum was well attended, with over a hundred interested people coming to find out about the parties‘ positions.
Moderation
ANDREAS ZUMACH, GENEVA/BERLIN
JOURNALIST, UNO CORRESPONDENT FOR THE TAGESZEITUNG (TAZ) AND OTHER MEDIA
The candidates of the parties represented in the Bundestag were invited from Bochum:
AXEL SCHÄFER MDB, SPD
FABIAN SCHÜTZ, CDU
OLAF IN DER BEEK MDB, FDP
SEVIM DAGDELEN MDB, THE LEFT
MAX LUCKS, ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS
The AfD party was not invited.
The following six topics were discussed and announced to the participants in advance:
– Should military spending in the federal budget actually be increased to 2% of gross national product by 2024, as planned by the current federal government?
– Should the Federal Government sign the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons and then also end Germany’s „nuclear participation“ in NATO and enforce the withdrawal of US nuclear bombs from Germany, which the Bundestag had already demanded almost unanimously in 2010?
– Should the Bundeswehr continue to participate in foreign missions? And if so, in which missions and in which not?
– Should Germany continue to supply weapons all over the world, including to belligerent states, to areas of tension and to regimes that use these weapons against their own people?
– What does the goal proclaimed by almost all Bundestag parties to date that the EU must become a „global player“ or achieve „strategic sovereignty“ mean? Should the German government continue to support an increasingly military role for the European Union?
– How could the future German government improve Germany’s completely muddled and confrontational relationship with Russia?