20200313 NATO Manöver Defender 2020 absagen

"Protect 20,000 US soldiers from Corona"

... and save us a lot of money - and do something for peace!

Update 14.03.2020: Well, Corona works

Norway has cancelled the central part of the major international military exercise "Cold Response" with thousands of soldiers (including from Germany).
The various NATO forces already have confirmed positive and many more suspected cases. Christopher Cavoli, Commanding General of the United States Army Europe and Defender's Commander-in-Chief, is currently under quarantine, as is the German Army Inspector General, Lieutenant General Alfons Mais.
The American-Israeli exercise "Juniper Cobra" has been cancelled.
The USA will reduce its planned troop contingent of 20,000 soldiers.
Update March 18. from IMI-0563: International manoeuvres have been cancelled or are being continued on a small scale as digital simulations – including the major Defender 20. Many barracks are operating at reduced capacity and even soldiers are told to work from home.

One can certainly argue about the weighting of the different arguments – but for peace we also get a virus to support. The DEFENDER-EUROPE 20 manoeuvre is clearly a threat to peace and extremely harmful to the environment, but now it can also help the corona virus to spread faster.

Perhaps the manoeuvre will actually be stopped because of the corona virus. Finland has already cancelled its participation in a military manoeuvre for this reason. There are also the first confirmed cases of coronavirus within the German armed forces. Therefore the Netzwerk Friedenskooperative has published the following appeal:

Stop US military manoeuvre Defender Europe 2020! Avert danger to peace, climate and health - sign now!

The Ministry of Health recommends cancelling major events involving more than 1,000 people to contain the coronavirus. But this does not seem to apply to military manoeuvres.

Until May of this year, tens of thousands of soldiers and war material will be transported from the USA to Germany and further on to Poland and the Baltic States to the Russian border. The manoeuvre is a display of military superiority and intended to demonstrate the rapid transfer of large combat-ready units from the USA to "NATO’s Eastern Flank". With a total of 37,000 soldiers, it is a superfluous provocation to Russia. It threatens peace, devours millions of taxpayers' money and is a heavy burden on the environment and our climate. Huge amounts of fossil fuels are used for the manoeuvre. Defender 20 can also contribute to the spread of the coronavirus in Europe.

De-escalation, the protection of our climate and the environment as well as human health must take priority over military power games – therefore we call on the ministries of defence and health that the manoeuvre Defender-Europe 20 be stopped immediately!

Please sign the urgent appeal and distribute it.

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