The end of the Second World War 80 years ago underscores the need for peace today

Appeal by members of the European Parliament

(16 May 2025 Today we commemorate the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of the Second World War 80 years ago. We remember the estimated 60 million people who died, including 27 million in the Soviet Union, and the immeasurable human suffering caused by this war.

As we stand here, war has returned to Europe. We therefore want to use this anniversary to urge our parliamentary colleagues to abandon all discussions about how this war can still be won and to embark on the path to peace. We have already squandered peace in Ukraine once; we must not squander it again.

The war in Ukraine could perhaps have been prevented if the EU had pushed for negotiations on Russia's security concerns regarding NATO enlargement. And if the EU had supported the Ukrainian-Russian peace negotiations that led to the Istanbul Communiqué one month after the outbreak of the war, it could most likely have been ended at an early stage. Unfortunately, this Parliament remained silent in both cases.

While the United States has now presented a peace proposal to end the war in Ukraine, the majority in this Parliament continues to reject peace through negotiations and instead supports the continuation of the war. More war will only lead to more bloodshed and further destruction in Ukraine. Continuing this war against a nuclear power also carries the risk of spreading to other European countries and turning into a nuclear inferno. We are therefore convinced that the only chance for Ukraine, indeed for Europe, lies in a negotiated solution.

Many parliamentarians have signed the book of condolence for Pope Francis, and we hope that they have also read his Easter message, which he delivered the day before his death. It is a message of peace that contradicts everything that the parliamentary majority stands for.

We therefore call on our colleagues in Parliament to follow the Pope's message of peace and “revive our hope for peace”.

Let us work together to make the European Union a European peace project.

European Parliament Strasbourg, 8 May 2025

Michael von der Schulenburg MEP (Germany)

Ruth Firmenich MEP (Germany)

Ondřej Dostál MEP (Czech Republic)

Ľuboš Blaha MEP (Slovakia)

Fidias Panayiotou MEP (Cyprus)

Elena Yoncheva MEP (Bulgaria)

Danilo delle Valle MEP (Italy)

Martin Sonneborn MEP (Germany)

Erik Kaliňák MEP (Slovakia)

Fabio de Masi MEP (Germany)

Jan-Peter Warnke MEP (Germany)

Branislav Ondruš MEP (Slovakia)

Thomas Geisel MEP (Germany)

Maria Zacharia MEP (Greece)

Katarína Roth Neveďalová MEP (Slovakia)

Michael McNamara MEP (Ireland)

(Translation “Swiss Standpoint”)