"The nuclear weapons signify a rupture in the relations of force because the future of the human species is endangered. [...] Therefore, priority must be given to guaranteeing the existence of the species. The nuclear arms must be removed from the relation of forces. The search for a way to suppress the nuclear arms is the base on which any serious policy must rest" -- Maurice Kriegel-Valrimont

Act more consciously than hitherto to solve the problem of the unity of a movement where almost everybody is against nuclear weapons, but many have not yet been able to make up their minds about the civil nuclear energy (this does not necessarily mean that they are FOR it). Preoccupy your thoughts with the positive construction of the future European Union. Make up your mind: be in favour of the European Union, whereby I mean the political federation, and against ideas of absolute national or European (or American, etc.) sovereignty, which actually are used to legitimize, for instance, weapons of mass destruction.

The European Nuclear Disarmament movement (END), which is also a movement for the gradual dismantlement and substitution of the nuclear power stations, needs to forge a unity with the other social movements, for common solutions to the global problems, and against the ruling imperialists, technocrats and market fundamentalists. It must be linked to the international movement of the small farmers, for food sovereignty, and against Monsanto. Keep in mind the words of the Indian expert: "If they control seed they control food, they know it, it is more powerful than bombs, it is more powerful than guns, this is the best way to control the populations of the world" -- Vandana Shiva

The Social Forum forum is the open terrain where the meetings, the network-building and the the elaboration of the new END (European Nuclear Disarmament) movement should take place.

If you say that we can not have unity with people who are FOR the construction of new nuclear power plants, you are basically right. But in reality, those people tend to be the same criminal politicians, who are also formally responsible for the further construction and "modernisation" of the nuclear weapons systems of France, the UK and NATO. They are our adversaries.

But the many citizens and scientists who are not taking a general negative stand against the civil nuclear energy are certainly not to be considered our adversaries.

Everybody tends to be against new nuclear power plants for NIMBY-reasons (not-in-my-backyard), but to realize that the civil nuclear energy has been and is a general historical mistake that needs to be corrected, is a different and complicated matter. Therefore, our only possibility is to moderate, elaborate and explain our own positions on the civil nuclear energy and its alternatives. Our positions should be, as far as possible, guided by scientific research and technological know-how. (As everybody who has tried to study the issues know, this is difficult, because the researchers and scientists are often in strong disagreement between themselves.) Moderation is required by the simple fact that several Eastern and Western European countries are already heavily dependent on electricity produced by nuclear energy. And the final disposal of the radioactive waste is an enormous global problem anyway, which remains to be solved.

The Finnish politicians and authorities believe that they have solved the radwaste problem. You may want to disagree with a letter to the ministry of labor and the economy of Finland before July 25th, 2008.

The situation regarding the nuclear weapons systems is very different from the situation with nuclear energy, because those who opt in favour of such systems lack any scientific ground whatsoever. They build their case not on science or on wisdom, but on fear and self-interest, which are usually paired with some kind of fundamentalism and racism. They are already morally bankrupt, and utterly so, but they have yet to be defeated politically, so that they cannot continue to stay in power and impose their criminal policies. It is a complicated question of changing the political relations of power, because European Nuclear Disarmament will not happen as a result of lobbying only; it requires a historical bloc of social and political forces.

Mikael Böök