International

"Talking about peace takes courage. We must continue to show courage. Together, we will bring humanity and peace closer, including in Europe." With these words, International Secretary for the SP, Gerrie Elfrink, concluded Peace Day 2024.

In a packed ‘Willem Twee’ in Den Bosch, SP member of Parliament Sarah Dobbe led discussions about the tensions inside and outside Europe. There was a focus on the necessity to invest in peace rather than following the call for militarization. Because that call is strong. Professor Bastiaan van Apeldoorn discussed the importance of international law as a compass towards peace. Bert de Belder from PVDA-Belgium emphasized how much is invested in weapons and how little is invested in peace. Without investing in peace, only war remains.

Wendela de Vries from Stop the Arms Trade outlined the influential lobby of the military-industrial complex. Frank Slijper from Pax highlighted the importance of regulating arms exports to prevent human rights violations. The Dutch government wants to join a treaty – the Aachen Treaty – which would relinquish its control over its own arms exports. The significance of this control is demonstrated by the judicial ruling on the export of F35 parts from the Netherlands to Israel. Due to the clear risk of human rights violations, the court halted the Dutch government's plans and prohibited the export of the F35 parts.

Military historian Christ Klep engaged in a conversation with Sarah Dobbe, showing the historical parallels with World War I in terms of rhetoric, arms races, and the risk of escalation.
During Peace Day, Sarah Dobbe launched the new Atlas of Armed Power, detailing the latest developments over the past two years. It is clear that the arms industry significantly profits from all wars. 2022 was a record year for defense spending globally, exceeding 2.2 trillion euros. In the global arms-producing sector, the average share increased by 25 percent in the last year. The Dutch arms industry earned over 5 billion euros, considerably more than the previous year.

Dobbe stated: "Defense spending is justified by a wartime rhetoric of necessity against Russian aggression. But if you look at the facts, you see that Europe spends more than five times as much on defense as Russia, and together with the U.S., it spends 17 times as much. The military superiority is there. However, much less is being invested in peace. While an arms race only makes the world less secure, this path to peace must be established. That is what this Peace Day clearly conveys."