In Rome, Hundred Thousand People Take to the Square Against Rearmament of Europe

Just as it had happened many times in the past, the Italian people came to the forefront in the struggle for peace and against the rearmament of Europe. On Saturday, April 5, more than one hundred thousand people traveled to the Italian capital and took to the streets to protest the new arms race and demand increased funding for education and health care. The streets of the historical center of Rome were filled with a wave of protesters: the number of those gathered for the protest march turned out to be even more than expected by the organizers themselves, who a day earlier had projected the presence of 15 thousand participants. The crowd started from Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and headed towards the Imperial Forums. At the head of the procession, people carried a banner with the main slogan of the action: “No to rearmament.” Another banner said: “The Russian people are not my enemy.” Along the entire route of the peace march, youth activists from the Five Star Movement chanted: “Long live anti-fascist Italy!”

In this way Italians protested against the decisions of the European Commission, which intends to spend 800 billion euros on rearmament, as well as against the highly controversial policy of the Italian government in the field of international relations and investments in military expenditures. “The message from this square is loud and clear: we don’t want a rearmament plan that will throw away 800 billion and drag Europe into a war economy,” said Giuseppe Conte, chairman of the Five Star Movement.

Speakers at the demonstration included activists, journalists, and intellectuals from the pacifist movement, culture, and academia. American economist and university professor Jeffrey Sachs and Belgian Labor Party MEP Marc Botenga also addressed the audience.

In his speech, repeatedly interrupted by thunderous applause, Professor Jeffrey Sachs (pictured) emphasized the need to stop multi-billion-dollar investments in the rearmament of the Old World: “Here, at this historic point in Rome, history is being made today, and it is you who are making it. Now I want to give you some practical advice on how to save 800 billion euros. You don’t need armies. You need to come to the negotiating table. You need to talk to Russia. The Russians are willing to negotiate. Sit down and talk. It’s free. Invite President Putin to Rome. He will be inspired by you. And you will be able to find peace,” Sachs stated.

The former director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University recalled that Russia and Ukraine were going to sign a peace agreement in 2022. However, the United States, led by Joe Biden, and Britain, led by Boris Johnson, ordered Kiev to trash the agreement: “Let me remind you,” Sachs continued, “that three years ago a peace agreement was worked out as a result of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul, Turkey. The document was already being prepared for signing. So, what happened next? The United States specifically put an end to that peace process. Great Britain put an end to this agreement. The masters of war put an end to that agreement, they blocked it.”

However, according to Sachs, “peace can be achieved now. It can be done at the negotiating table. Peace can also come to the Middle East. You must admit Palestine to the UN, and then peace will come. If you continue to increase the level of militarization, Italy will become more and more like the United States. Don’t do it. We, on the contrary, need the United States to look more like Europe and like beautiful Italy. Thank you for your voice for peace!” the famous American economist concluded his speech.

“Europe must end this war, or else the war will end Europe,” the crowd chanted after Sachs’s speech. Meanwhile, on YouTube, under a recording of his speech, numerous Italian and American users wrote over and over again: “Russia is not my enemy!”, “La Russia non è mia nemica!”

A powerful wave has risen from the historic center of the Italian capital, the response of which will inevitably sweep across Europe and around the world. “No to rearmament! No to cuts in health care, education, and jobs! More funds should be directed to these sectors, that’s what we really need,” Giuseppe Conte reiterated.

“What kind of country do we want to see in the future? A country that invests billions in saving lives or destroying them? A country that leaves its children a reliable health care system or warehouses full of bombs and missiles? We have no doubts, but this square has doubts. And it responds to the ‘transversal war party,’” with these words Chiara Appendino (pictured), vice president of the Five Star Movement, addressed the protesters from the podium of the rally.

In an interview given to Radio Radicale before the demonstration, Appendino said that this would not just be a Five Star Movement action, “but a place for anyone who does not consider themselves part of the ‘transversal war party,’ regardless of personal background and political beliefs. Here we can openly say: arming ourselves to the teeth is wrong. We need to put resources into citizen services. It is time to take a clear stand, as Europe is hurtling down a crazy path, and we may not have the opportunity to turn back.”

According to Appendino, a unified European defense should be based on common, rationally conceived strategies: “Now the individual countries are simply told: ‘Arm yourselves to the teeth, every man for himself.’ This is just a pretext to continue supplying arms to Ukraine and to foment the military atmosphere necessary to justify a new arms race. I believe in the European idea, but I want to see Europe at the negotiating table. I want to see it stand up for our interests and not let the USA or other players do it for us. So far, the bet has been solely on a strategy to defeat Russia militarily, but that has not worked and can never work.”

Finally, from the podium of the rally, journalist and former MEP Barbara Spinelli issued a stern warning to all sorts of war hawks: “We are called Putinists and repeat an absurd proverb: ‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’ This is the reasoning of the majority in the European Parliament and supporters of rearmament. But there is a different meaning behind their words: ‘You want war, prepare for war.’ Some argue as if rearmament will lead to economic growth and create jobs. But we Europeans who have fought in countless wars know very well that after 1945 we were only able to build a welfare state and social rights because the choice was made in favor of peace.”