Ukraine war is hit to German anti-nuke movement
July 7, 2022
Olive-green and brown, the fields surrounding the Büchel Air Base in Germany's western Eifel region match the camouflage uniforms of the US airmen stationed there. The area is sparsely populated, dominated by leafy trees and small houses. The nearby town of Büchel has a population of fewer than 1,200 people.
The United States reportedly keeps several nuclear warheads at Büchel.
'Threatening nuclear weapons'
On Thursday, the air base was on a heightened state of alert. This is due to theanti-nuke protests, which have gathered a few dozen people outside the base's barbed-wire fence.
The peace activists did not seem to pose a threat. They have set up a red tent and sunroof, where they sat folding flowers and cranes out of colored paper in preparation for Thursday's protest action — symbols of the anti-nuclear war movement.
"Yes, we are only a few," said activist and organizer Johannes Oehler, who is on the board of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons in Germany.
"It's one of the reasons why I started getting involved," the 32-year-old Oehler said. "I felt like there was a very small number of people interested in this issue, despite how important it is and how threatening nuclear weapons are."
"We must prevent the use of nuclear weapons," Oehler said.
The UN General Assembly adopted the treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on July 7, 2017. For those nations that are party to it, the treaty prohibits the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use, and the threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as assistance and encouragement to the prohibited activities. Only 66 countries have ratified it — Germany is not one of them.
Oehler said the treaty was a success for the peace movement. He hopes that Germany will join in.
"As long as there are nuclear weapons, they will eventually be used," Oehler said. "We must prevent these weapons from ever being used again. And that's the only way."
Oehler paused as two tornado fighter jets flew overhead, disappearing quickly.
In the 1980s Germany's peace movement was strong, and thousands took to the streets to protest deployment of US weapons in the country. With the end of the Cold War, the peace movement saw its numbers dwindling.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has once again put the spotlight on US nuclear warheads in Germany — and the German fighter jets that could carry them.
Man in command
Colonel Thomas Schneider has the 33 Tactical Air Wing of the Germany's air force under his command.
His office is adorned with an array of trophies and models of the Tornado, which the Bundeswehr aims to replace with the latest US F-35 jets soon.
In March, Germany's government announced that it would purchase the F-35 stealth fighter military jets to replace and phase out the aging Tornado aircraft from 2025 to 2030. This is part of plans to upgrade the Bundeswehr, for which a special fund of €100 billion ($102 billion) is being set up.
"We're expecting the first aircraft to arrive by 2026, 2027," Schneider said, adding that an infrastructural overhaul to accommodate the new jets is already underway.
"I've been flying the Tornado for 25 years. It is a beautiful plane, a wonderful plane," Schneider said. "It breaks my heart a little to see them replaced," he added.
Russia has issued veiled threats of a nuclear attack should the United States or EU allies directly interfere in the invasion of Ukraine. Schneider refused to speculate on whether this has raised the threat level or made a nuclear attack more likely.
"We are prepared," Schneider said. "My task is to keep the [people on base] calm, to talk to them, to tell them what we are all about. But I am not afraid that this is any more likely than it was before," he said.
Büchel not worried
People queued up outside a kebab shop in the center of Büchel on Thursday. Most of them were dressed in sweatpants; one woman wore a military uniform. They waited for their meals.
"Most of our customers are soldiers from the base," the middle-aged man working behind the counter said.
The base is the town's primary source of economic livelihood.
Werner Gevenich, a 65-year-old pensioner, was waiting for his lunch. He said living in the proximity of nuclear bombs did not weigh on him at all.
"If there is a nuclear war, we will all be done for," he said. "Then it doesn't matter whether we're sitting right next to it or further away."
The soldiers eating at the snack bar were unbothered by the peace activists — as long as the demonstration doesn't blocking their way into the base.
Edited by: Rina Goldenberg
While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.