A lot has happened since our camp last summer: The wars continue to escalate, and we in Germany are also feeling the effects. They are setting our world on fire. The USA, together with Israel, has attacked Iran – every day we see images of the bombings on the news, witnessing hospitals and schools being hit, as well as fuel depots whose fires have caused more emissions in two weeks than 80 countries combined. The genocide in Palestine also continues in the most brutal way. In January, many took to the streets in support of Rojava – the self-governing region in northeastern Syria: The Syrian Islamist regime, with Western support, has launched a major offensive against the people who are showing the world that revolution is not just a dream, but a reality.
The pressure increases, as NATO fights to maintain its position of power in the world. To achive this, capitalism in the Middle East must be enforced by the most brutal means. Entire peoples are being massacred to open up new trade routes. The true face is becoming increasingly obvious: For money and power, people are being murdered, enslaved, raped, driven into poverty, and deported.
Germany’s position as a forerunner within European NATO is becoming increasingly clear. Merz and Minister of War Boris Pistorius are tasked with making Germany war-ready; they dream of the “largest conventional army in Europe.” Meanwhile, the cost of living keeps rising, and cuts in every social sector are on the agenda. Young people are asking themselves what’s worth living for when they’re forced to go to the front lines, when even the most basic food items become unaffordable. When we can follow live on social media how, in Germany, a woman is murdered almost every day, how world leaders are building a rape network, how people are murdered at borders, how genocides continue unhindered, how governments seem to use military power to enforce whatever they want, how even the most brutal wars are coldly justified. What kind of world is this supposed to be?
Everything is geared towards war: workplaces, schools, advertising, hospitals, and so on … Militarization doesn’t just mean the mass production and export of weapons, but that all areas of life are being made fit for war. Anyone who thinks this will continue without our resistance is mistaken: The antimilitarist movement has shown that we won’t just let this happen and that we will fight for one another! We are fighting together in solidarity with Palestine, with the Kurdish freedom movement, with the striking students against conscription, and with the protests against the deportation agency ICE in the USA and Frontex in the EU. We are fighting together against racist violence and femicides. We refuse! We sabotage! We protest! We strike!
With our camp in Cologne and the days of action in Hamburg, we are taking a clear stand against war and for peace! Last year, we showed that we are part of a determined anti-war movement. We will inspire courage in Cologne, Hamburg, and the whole world and show that resistance is possible and that we can stop these wars.
Together we will discuss how we plan to accomplish this, asking questions in this process but also providing answers. We will show what we are fighting against, but also what we want to achieve – through actions, education, discussions, culture, and a coexistence of solidarity.
Through actions this September, we will directly disrupt the war machine and its propaganda and take our protest to the streets. We will not allow arms production, Bundeswehr bases, and everyday militarization to continue untroubled in Cologne. And try to prevent the NATO exercise in Hamburg from taking place as planned!
In both locations, people from the leftist, revolutionary, and antimilitarist movements will come together to advance the fight against wars and militarization in Germany. Together we can test our strategies and learn from one another. The camp and the days of action will become part of the city: All residents of Cologne and Hamburg, all anti-militarists from everywhere, are warmly invited to get involved and join us in declaring war on the warmongers. As opponents of war, we must stop war wherever it is being promoted! And that’s exactly why we’re heading to Hamburg this year – because for the third time, the Bundeswehr plans to conduct the largest civil-military cooperation exercise in Germany since the end of the Cold War. The NATO exercise “Red Storm Charlie” reflects the escalation of militarization – and it’s happening right before the eyes of local residents in the heart of the metropolis of Hamburg!
Various sectors are involved in the exercise: emergency services, job centers, the military, the police, the fire department, the German Agency for Technical Relief (THW), other government agencies, as well as measures for counterinsurgency. The Bundeswehr is rehearsing how troops are deployed toward Russia, since Germany is the European hub for troops and military equipment heading east. The exercise is not for some distant dystopia, but for a very immediate reality.
In Cologne, too, we’ll pick up exactly where we left off last year: At the beginning of the year, letters were sent from the Cologne barracks to all 18-year-olds. Cologne is the hub for the upcoming draft! Young people in Germany are showing that they don’t want to die on the front lines or kill other young people. We’ll build on that this year!
Arms manufacturers are swarming in and around Cologne – including THE German weapons manufacturer “Rheinmetall.” Under CEO Armin Papperger, Rheinmetall embodies everything we’re fighting against and attacks everything we stand for. The massive profits since the start of the war in Ukraine demonstrate the financial interest in war. Profits are built on human lives – especially those of young people and women.
We still have a score to settle: We will not simply accept the brutal crackdown on our demonstration and the wave of repression. No repression will break us, because our spirit of resistance and our hope remain unbroken! We’re coming back!
Whether in Cologne or Hamburg: Fight the warmongers – for our future!
Rheinmetall Entwaffnen, April 2026
Dieser Aufruf in Deutsch, Spanisch, Kurdisch, Türkisch, Arabisch, Griechisch und in Polnisch