Year of War, year of lie!

That is what the phrase says, and that is what reality confirms.

Given the situation of war in the world and in Europe, its constant upturn and the possible consequences that this has had and will have in Euskal Herria, last December several citizens met to reflect on the situation. After reflecting on this, we agreed on a citizens' declaration. Document title We are not going to war. There's no war, it's not on our behalf. Faced with the need to socialize it, on 4 January 2025 we published this declaration in San Sebastian, at the gates of the Palace of Aiete, so emblematic in the memory of the Basque citizenship.

Here is the manifesto read in the popular press conference:

No to war, no to our name!

In the world, in Europe and in Euskal Herria, we are increasingly hearing, through the media, the drums of war. Aware of the situation, several citizens have met on the slogan No to war, not on our behalf. We are not a collective, we are normal people of the people. We are independent citizens.

Despite and war, there are many fronts going on around the world. The conflict is old. It's hybrid. It has many areas: military, economic, energy, cultural, social... In addition to decades of conflict, each day more fronts are set in motion: Ukraine, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Sahara, Yemen, Sudan, SOMALIA, Myanmar (Burma)… As if that were not enough, they are trying to open new fronts: Georgia, Moldova, South Korea, Iraq…

In all these conflicts, NATO and its partners are directly or indirectly involved. Of course, to protect their interests and not those of the citizens.

Now, the situation has become more difficult and dangerous than ever. At the moment, there are those who can become a world nuclear war and who are about to explode: It was Ukraine.

Aware of the seriousness of the situation, the citizens of Europe would like to say loud and clear to the four winds:

1. No to war: through the media, we follow the war in Ukraine and the massacre in Palestine almost live. Surely what excites us most is that of Palestine, because we are seeing genocide with our own eyes. But we must not forget all the other conflicts mentioned.

2. Not to fuel those wars: our governments have already spent billions of euros sending arms to those places of conflict, without consulting the public. We know that in Euskal Herria there are several companies dedicated to the arms industry, specifically to the feeding of wars. NATO requires its partners to bring at least 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to a military budget for 2010. This is a huge amount of money to be made available by privatising Health, Education, Culture, etc. The purchasing power and well-being of citizens are shrinking, becoming poorer.

3. No to NATO: we would like to point out that most of the Basques and Basques of the South, in the only referendum in Euskal Herria, gave NATO a "no resounding" in 1986. We have to end this aggressive Atlanticism.

4. Not the soldiers: in several countries in Europe, attempts are being made to re-impose military service. Rumours happen and in some countries military service has already been restored or conditions have been tightened, claiming that in the coming years there will be a war with Russia in Europe.

5. No to misinformation: it is regrettable the unilateral view and biased information that most media offer on these issues. The propaganda they make is belligerent and the laundering of NATO is shameful. Year of war, year of lie.

If we do not move, we will soon be able to see our children bring them dead from the war front with the NATO uniform.

In the face of this harsh and violent situation, we see no solution except to abandon NATO and to stop all parties involved in the conflict from making war.

Through this manifesto, we demand:

1. We demand that the municipalities, deputies and governments of the Basque Country break up relations with NATO and work to do so.

2. We demand that the municipalities, deputies and governments of Euskal Herria not bear a penny more than the taxes we pay, neither the war in Ukraine, nor any other war, nor a single weapon more.

3. We demand that the governments of the Spanish and French states respect what Euskal Herria voted for and leave NATO.

We call on the public to take on and mobilise these demands.

Don't wage war, don't tell us.

We will not go to your war.

We will not give you to our children

No to war, no to our name!

After the press conference, it is time to join the demonstration. The fact that citizens show their support for this declaration is very valuable and of great importance these days. In order to protect the document, citizens should only indicate name, surname, locality and e-mail on the following website:

https://ezgoazgerrara.wordpress.com/atxikitu/

This is just the beginning. We will soon be much more!

We're not going to war. No to war, no to our name!

Are you going to war?

Rafa Beloki Zapirain, Ihintza Tellabide Amunarriz, Miren Sukia Muñoz