08 June
2006 - Brussels, Belgium — Twenty-four Greenpeace
activists from Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,
Turkey and the UK were arrested this morning after
staging a protest at NATO’s Brussels Headquarters.
Their demand: removal of the 480 US-owned and
controlled nuclear weapons from Europe. The action
occurred as NATO Defence Ministers are preparing
for a high-level meeting on the future of NATO.
A Greenpeace truck carrying
a 3.6 meter (12 feet) full-size replica of a US
B61 nuclear bomb blocked the entrance to NATO
with activists bearing banners saying “Nukes out
of NATO.” More activists entered the site carrying
banners onto the NATO symbol statue, while others
dropped a two-meter-square banner repeating the
message from NATO’s main building.
Sixteen years after the end
of the cold war, 480 US Nuclear weapons remain
in Europe. They are currently stationed in Germany,
Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey and the
UK. Each of these nuclear weapons has a destructive
capacity of up to ten times that of the bomb which
destroyed Hiroshima, and have a combined power
capable of wiping Europe off the map.
Last week a report released
by the Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction
(WMDC) chaired by Hans Blix called for the 480
US-owned and controlled nuclear weapons to be
removed from Europe and returned to US soil. The
WMDC report provides great detail on the dangers
of US nuclear weapons. The Commission also explains
how these weapons impede international efforts
to negotiate further nuclear reductions with Russia.
The governments of NATO countries
have a direct role in shaping NATO policy and
can insist that these weapons be removed from
their territory. The US has taken their weapons
home several times before: Canada, Greece, Denmark
(Greenland) and Iceland are all now free of US
nuclear bombs.
Last week we released opinion
polls showing that 70 percent of Europeans living
in those countries which host US nuclear weapons
want to live in a nuclear-weapons-free Europe.
The polling data also demonstrated that a solid
majority of Europeans -- 65.5 percent -- in the
six countries which host US nuclear weapons are
unaware of their presence.
"With all the debate over
Iran's nuclear intentions, countries must accept
their own responsibility for escalating nuclear
tensions in the Middle East. By removing US NATO
nuclear weapons European leaders have the opportunity
to begin to address the concerns of their citizens,
to strengthen the position of Europe in negotiations
with the Middle East and Russia and take a real
step towards achieving a nuclear weapons free
more peaceful future" concluded Mattfield.
