Frankfurt – On September 1st, the anti-war day, IG Metall is calling for action for peace in Ukraine. The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has now lasted more than a year and a half, bringing death, suffering and destruction to the civilian population. Serious crimes against universal human rights are committed every day. We see that wherever wars and civil wars are raging – whether in Syria, Iran, Yemen, Sudan or Ethiopia. The guns must finally be silent – everywhere! War and the breach of international agreements cannot and must not be used as a means of resolving conflicts. IG Metall resolutely rejects war as a political tool. Together with the DGB and the other individual trade unions, we campaign for peace, arms control and disarmament, for respect for human rights and for more social justice.
IG Metall supports all demands on the Russian government to stop all combat operations immediately and to withdraw their troops. State sovereignty of Ukraine must be restored. This requires confidence-building measures as well as credible and effective security guarantees for Ukraine. Arms shipments can be legitimate when democratic states exercise their right to self-defense against armed attack. But it is also clear that human rights take precedence over export opportunities. Arms exports are to be handled restrictively and transparently. We demand coordinated and common guidelines for arms export controls in the EU.
In all of this, one thing is clear: Armament spending must not be played off against the financing of important socio-political projects and the necessary public investments to implement the socio-ecological transformation. IG Metall rejects arbitrary targets for arms spending. The defense budget should be based on what is required to fulfill national and alliance defense tasks. In addition, the means and efforts for civil conflict prevention and development cooperation must be increased significantly.
A broad societal debate is also needed about peace and security in the 21st century, about how a new architecture for peace and security in Europe needs to be designed and how international organizations can be strengthened.