Status: 06/10/2023 2:59 p.m
Peace initiatives demonstrated at the air base in Wunstorf (Hanover region) on Saturday. They oppose the Air Force exercise “Air Defender 2023”.
According to the police, around 300 people from all over northern Germany came together at the air base. Many of them had previously met at the train stations in Neustadt and Poggenhagen and then walked or cycled to the main gate of the air force base – around 50 demonstrators formed a bicycle parade. Several North German peace groups called for the protest, including the Neustadt/Wunstorf peace initiative, the Bremen Peace Forum and the North German Peace Conference.
Initiatives fear further escalation and rearmament
The demonstrators see the wrong signal in the Luftwaffe maneuvers.
Participants carried posters with peace symbols, but anti-NATO slogans could also be read according to information from NDR Lower Saxony. Among other things, the demonstrators demanded that the federal government work for an immediate ceasefire in Russia’s war against Ukraine. From their point of view, the upcoming “Air Defender” maneuver is sending the wrong signal, which could lead to a further escalation of the conflict. The maneuver contributes to more rearmament, said Gerhard Biederbeck from the Neustadt/Wunstorf peace initiative in advance. Right now everything should be done to diplomatically solve the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, said Biederbeck.
AUDIO: Air Defender: what’s coming up north? (06/09/2023) (4 mins)
Largest air force exercise since NATO was founded
The Wunstorf air base serves as a logistics hub for “Air Defender 2023”. The twelve-day air force exercise, which has been planned for five years, starts on Monday and is the largest of its kind in NATO’s history. According to the Bundeswehr, more than 230 aircraft and around 10,000 soldiers from 25 nations are involved.
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