In mid-January, the Cedarras Forum presented the report Euskadi and the European Union, the shared destiny of prosperity and competitiveness. It contains recommendations for the PPAs, taking as a reference the reports submitted by Draghi and Letta for the European Union.

Based on the respect that the people of the forum deserve, some of whom I know personally, in line with the need to promote different alternatives for the development of our society and in response to the invitation of the director of the forum to publicly discuss his proposals, I will dare to reflect on the proposal of investment in defense.

All this from the legitimacy granted to us by the 83 entities that make up the Coordination of Basque NGDOs. In fact, through 839 projects reaching more than three million people worldwide, we have a social base of 120,000 people operating in 63 countries.

First of all, I asked myself: what are you thinking when you propose this measure? I understand that they are not talking about the installation of missiles and tanks in Muskiz, Hondarribia or Campezo. Nor are they looking for justification for their private investments in this type of companies, which, although legal, in my opinion, are very ethically critical.

Therefore, I conclude that the problem of what is known as the defense industry is its greater difficulty in finding financing from financial institutions, since the market and regulatory bodies force the promotion of sustainable and responsible investment (SRI), which not only takes into account the profitability and risk of an investment, but also evaluates environmental, social and corporate factors (also known as ESG criteria). In other words, in addition to analysing the economic return on investment, it seeks to ensure that the money used serves to have a positive impact on society while maintaining an environmentally friendly balance, in line with the 2030 Agenda.

I assume that, faced with this difficulty in finding financing, they want some of the billions of euros of public investment they are asking for for the period 2025-2030 to go to the arms industry. This may be what they mean when the report refers to the "lack of investment in defence and security".

In fact, it’s a very profitable business. More than 59 wars were counted in 2024. Military spending has increased from $1.2 trillion in 2000 to $2.4 in 2023. Between 2021 and 2024, the area of the Earth in conflict has grown by 65%. And to this should be added the fact that Trump has come to power.

The numbers of dead and wounded and the images that come to us from both Gaza and Ukraine should be enough. But for the avoidance of doubt, we, who respond to emergencies and assist victims and displaced persons in these conflicts, do not support war! We scream, but not even the weapons used in these wars! We tell them. No!, because weapons only create hatred, destruction and pain. No!, because war is not a matter of others, and although we have forgotten it, we also had a war here not long ago. And no!, because we want another world for ourselves and for future generations.

But in addition to shouting, we will continue to work in Palestine, Ethiopia, the Congo, Mozambique and dozens of other countries to be the first to care for the survivors of these conflicts, to help the most vulnerable people and to offer them opportunities to have a better life.

We will continue to educate, raise awareness and activate the participation of civil society, but in our case, for a model based not only on economic progress, but also on Sustainable Human Development.

We will read the reports of Draghi and Letta, but our reflections will be based on the inspiration of José María Arizmendiarrieta, Paul Collier and Michael Sandel.

We urge the institutions, the political parties and the Vice-President and Minister of Economy, Mikel Torres (in connection with recent statements), to implement the Charter of Justice and Solidarity with the Impoverished Countries. Approved by the Basque Parliament in 2007, it not only talks about the implementation of a "peace dividend", but it also refers, literally, to: "In its policies of promotion and support of companies, the Basque Government will not provide any support to natural or legal persons dedicated to the production, marketing and financing of weapons".

In this sense, we urge them to forget about investments in the arms industry, to promote socioeconomic policies consistent with Sustainable Human Development and to comply with the commitment agreed in Law 03/2024, the Basque Law for Cooperation and Solidarity, to allocate 0.7% of the total expenditure of the General Budget of the Basque Country each year to the cooperation policy, with the final objective of allocating 0.7% of the gross national income to official development assistance.

We also ask the Jauregi and D'Anjou councilors who attended the presentation of the Cedarras Forum to support the launch of the social impact fund for the Global South, promoted by the Basque Agency for Cooperation and Solidarity and the Basque Institute of Finance.

Finally, we encourage financial institutions, Voluntary Social Security Institutions (BGAE/EPSV) and investors in general to advocate responsible and sustainable investments rather than short-term results.

In the end, no! Let's invest in "defense," and yes! Let us invest in the defence of values such as cooperation and peace in order to build a fairer, fairer and more sustainable Basque society in solidarity with the most vulnerable people on this planet.

*Josu Urrutia Beristain is the President of the NGO Coordination of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. Coordinator 83 NGOs