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Rallies in Berlin, Paris call for peace in Ukraine

Protesters in Germany and France on Saturday demanded peace for Ukraine, a day after activists in both countries marked one year since the Russian invasion.

Published: 26 February 2023 09:13 CET

Rallies in Berlin, Paris call for peace in Ukraine

Protesters surround a giant Ukrainian flag as they take part in a demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine at Republique square in Paris, on February 25, 2023, on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Emmanuel DUNAND/AFP

Police said about 10,000 people braved the falling snow in central Berlin to call for negotiations with Moscow rather than weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

Under the slogan “Rise up for Peace”, demonstrators bundled up against the cold gathered at the iconic Brandenburg Gate near where a day earlier activists had parked a bombed-out Russian tank in front of Russia’s embassy in Berlin.

Organised by far-left politician Sahra Wagenknecht and feminist Alice Schwarzer, who both addressed the crowd, the demonstration is controversial for drawing support from far-right politicians too.

The two women have also launched a petition which claims to have gathered more than 645,000 signatures.

In Paris, police said 3,000 protesters rallied as they sang Ukraine’s national anthem at Place de la Republique before Ukrainian children dressed in traditional costume led a procession.

Hand on his heart, 73-year-old Volodymyr Kraftchenko, who fled Ukraine a year ago, condemned “those who violated our land and our rights”.

Krystina Krasnoboka said the “guilt” of not being in Ukraine had over the past year faded and become a feeling of “being more useful here (in France), to send supplies and money to the country”.

Hundreds also rallied elsewhere across France, including the southern city of Montpellier, where Litouka Kseniia arrived with her two-year-old daughter in April last year.

“We must not think the war will end soon, we must shout everywhere that Ukraine is suffering and unfortunately is still going to suffer,” the 29-year-old told AFP.

On Friday, thousands of protesters across Europe marched against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

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Macron warns 'mortal' Europe needs credible defence

He described Russia’s behaviour after its invasion of Ukraine as “uninhibited” and said it was no longer clear where Moscow’s “limits” lay.

Macron also sounded the alarm on what he described as disrespect of global trade rules by both Russia and China, calling on the European Union to revise its trade policy.

“Our Europe, today, is mortal and it can die,” he said.

“It can die and this depends only on our choices,” Macron said, warning that Europe was “not armed against the risks we face” in a world where the “rules of the game have changed”.

“Over the next decade… the risk is immense of (Europe) being weakened or even relegated,” he added, also pointing to the risk of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Macron returned to the same themes of a speech he gave in September 2017 months after taking office at the same location – the Sorbonne University in Paris – but in a context that seven years on has been turned upside down by Brexit, Covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Macron champions the concept of European strategic autonomy in economy and defence, arguing that Europe needs to face crises like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine without relying on the US.

He urged Europe to be more a master of its own destiny, saying in the past it was over-dependent on Russia for energy and Washington for security.

He said the indispensable “sine qua non” for European security was “that Russia does not win the war of aggression in Ukraine”.

“We need to build this strategic concept of a credible European defence for ourselves,” Macron said, adding Europe could not be “a vassal” of the United States.

He said he would ask European partners for proposals in the next months and added that Europe also needed its own capacity in cyberdefence and cybersecurity.

Macron said preference should be given to European suppliers in the purchase of military equipment and backed the idea of a European loan to finance this effort.

Macron also called for a “revision” of EU trade policy to defend European interests, accusing both China and the United States of no longer respecting the rules of global commerce.

“It cannot work if we are the only ones in the world to respect the rules of trade — as they were written up 15 years ago — if the Chinese and the Americans no longer respect them by subsidising critical sectors.”

Macron is, after Brexit and the departure from power of German chancellor Angela Merkel, often seen by commentators as Europe’s number one leader.

But his party is facing embarrassment in June’s European elections, ranking well behind the far-right in opinion polls and even risking coming third behind the Socialists.

The head of the governing party’s list for the elections, the little-known Valerie Hayer, is failing to make an impact, especially in the face of the high-profile 28-year-old Jordan Bardella leading the far right and Raphael Glucksmann emerging as a new star on the left.

Macron made no reference to the elections in his speech, even though analysts say he is clearly seeking to wade into the campaign, with his speech reading as a manifesto for the continent’s future.

“The risk is that Europe will experience a decline and we are already starting to see this despite all our efforts,” he warned.

“We are still too slow and not ambitious enough,” he added, urging a “powerful Europe”, which “is respected”, “ensures its security” and regains “its strategic autonomy”.

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