“European and international NATO bases and the threat of nuclear weapons”
Speech of Sylvia Tingiridou, President of the Pancyprian Peace Council, to the Peace and anti-NATO Conference organized by the Confederal Group of GUE/NGL in the European Parliament
2-3rd June 2016, European Parliament, Brussels
It has been very aptly noted that the fact that humanity has managed to avoid until now a nuclear war episode is a miracle. If such an episode were to take place, it would drive life on the planet back to the Ice Age. It is true that the nuclear threat has never stopped hanging over the heads of the world’s peoples. On the contrary, despite the proclamations and wishes for a global nuclear disarmament, the nuclear arsenals of the powerful countries on the planet are maintained and in some cases being strengthened.
The NATO Alliance bears the biggest responsibility for the current situation. Let us not forget that NATO was the one that in the previous decades rejected the proposals submitted by the then socialist community and the demands of the world peace movement for a simultaneous nuclear disarmament. Today, NATO is structured strategically on its nuclear arsenal. The NATO Strategic Concept states that “the ultimate guarantee of the Allies is provided by the strategic nuclear forces of the Alliance, particularly those of the US.” On every occasion, NATO reiterates that “As long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance”, without of course ever having taken any steps to end the presence of nuclear weapons on the planet. Besides, the aggressive nature of NATO itself needs such a lethal weapon.
The EU, despite its proclamations and empty rhetoric against nuclear weapons, is dotted with nuclear warheads. Two states of the EU hard core are recognized as nuclear powers: France – it is estimated that it has around 300 operational nuclear warheads and the United Kingdom with 215 nuclear warheads, of which 150 advanced. In addition, on the territory of four EU Member States (Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Italy) hundreds of US nuclear weapons (150-250 warheads) are deployed which are targeting Russia and the Middle East, while Turkey, a leading NATO member and a candidate for EU membership, also hosts American nuclear weapons on its soil.
The whole picture is completed by the situation in the Middle East. Following the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, the situation has been made clear. Israel’s nuclear arsenal (estimates range from 80 up to 200 nuclear warheads, which also includes neutron bombs and biological weapons) represents a deadly danger for peace, the peoples and the natural environment in the neighborhood of the East Mediterranean. It is important to underline that these weapons are in the possession of a state which has not signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and which – at least in the region – is to blame for the most numerous, systematic and most brutal violations of International Law. Israel has now removed every pretext of the West, which for years has been looking for nuclear weapons in Iran and elsewhere in the world, but pretends that it doesn’t see the Israeli nuclear arsenal at the centre of this volatile and fragile region of the Middle East.
Essentially, NATO offers immunity and protection to Israel so that Israel’s nuclear monopoly, which ensures military superiority for the state of Israel and therefore it can continue its occupation of the Palestinian territories and aggression against the peoples of the Middle East, will be intact and untouched. The recent decision for the establishment of a permanent Israeli delegation at NATO headquarters demonstrates once again that the strategic plans of the Western imperialist centers complement each other.
These plans and designs hide the sharp confrontations and huge energy rivalries, the focus of which is the region of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. The EU Security Strategy of 2003 (which spoke about “Promoting a ring of well-administered states to the east of the EU and on the Mediterranean coast, with which the EU can enjoy close and cooperative relations”), as well as the American-inspired Plan for a “New Middle East “, have for some years now been promoting the complete rearrangement of the region through the redrawing of borders, foreign interventions in the internal affairs of states, the overthrow of “non-friendly” governments and the fostering of religious and ethnic conflicts. This includes the escalating militarization of the region by NATO, the EU and Israel, through the strengthening of their military presence in the Mediterranean, the density of their naval and air exercises, further nuclearization and the use of military and spying bases.
That’s why our area is constantly being targeted by NATO. As everyone knows, in our region are situated key parts of the NATO command, headquarters, naval base, missile firing field, a marine training centre, parts of a missile shield, the NATO-led operation to patrol the Mediterranean (“Active Endeavour”), while now – on the pretext of involvement in the management of the refugee flows – NATO is located in the Aegean Sea. Two NATO military and civilian satellite – programs, namely the “Mediterranean Dialogue” and “Istanbul Cooperation Initiative”, are focusing on our region.
Finally, the Maritime Dimension of the EU Common Security and Defense Policy is also promoting the militarization of the seas, with special emphasis on the eastern Mediterranean. It is indeed not a coincidence that – as the Assistant Secretary-General of NATO announced just ten days ago – at the upcoming NATO Summit important decisions will be approved regarding the southern borders of the Alliance. NATO, he said characteristically, will intensify its efforts to”expand stability” in the Middle East and North Africa, “helping its NATO partners in the region to strengthen their defense.”
Our own country, Cyprus, is also situated in this area, which besides is also one of the most tragic victims of NATO. NATO has always had as its permanent goal to transform our island into an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” that would function, because of its geostrategic position, as a spy base and naval base against the peoples of the Middle East. The tragedy suffered by our people in the summer of 1974, with the fascist coup d’état of the Greek junta which gave the pretext for the invasion of Turkey and the continuing – to this day – occupation and division of our island, was elaborated and planned at NATO headquarters. The ultimate goal was the division of our island into a Greek and a Turkish part and to unite each of them with the two NATO so-called “mother countries”, namely Turkey and Greece. Our people’s struggle against the Turkish occupation, against the foreign British bases that exist in Cyprus since 1960 and our struggle for the complete demilitarization of the island is essentially a struggle against NATO imperialism.
At the same time, the determined and militant stand of the peace movement and the Left of Cyprus against any thought of a NATO involvement on the Cyprus problem and Cyprus’ accession to either NATO or the so-called Partnership for Peace program, have prevented – at least for now – such a development. The fact that the Republic of Cyprus is the only EU member state that does not participate in either the NATO or the so-called Partnership for Peace program constitutes a gain for the people of Cyprus which we must guard and preserve. Our firm position was and remains “Neither NATO in Cyprus, nor Cyprus in NATO.” Our goal is to continue the struggle together both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots for a free, reunified homeland, liberated from the Turkish occupation, so that together we will achieve the abolition of the colonial legacy of the British bases in Cyprus.
With these thoughts, dear friends, I would like to stress the need to focus the activity of the international peace movement, led by the World Peace Council, the progressive forces and citizens on two specific axes, around which broader forces can be rallied:
First, initiatives should be undertaken to promote our demand for the immediate convening of a UN Conference with the aim of declaring the Middle East a zone free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. In Cyprus, on AKEL’s initiative, a unanimous resolution was adopted by the House of Representatives on this issue, which is a significant weapon in our struggle.
Second, broad all-European campaigns should be organized, demanding the denuclearization of Europe, the withdrawal of all nuclear weapons from European territory and the closure of foreign military bases, combined with the fight against the ever deepening EU-NATO coupling.
Dear friends,
With these thoughts in mind, we warmly thank the organizers of this Conference for the opportunity they gave to the Pancyprian Peace Council to participate in this debate. We are confident that the discussion to follow will be waged in the struggle for peace, for the rights of the peoples and for the end of the system that generates wars and refugees.
