Europe

In Stockholm, for the third time on its journey, the delegates of the World March have been welcomed by members of a National Parliament. Per Bolund, member of the Green Party, declared *“by passing through Sweden the World March has given us the real push to work on the theme of peace and nonviolence in our Parliament”*.

The institutions of Salonicco came together at the Aristotelous University to welcome the World March delegation on its arrival in the city. During the ceremony, March spokesman Schultze presented the Charter for a World without Violence, written by Nobel Peace Prize winners, to the President of UNESCO, who undertook to disseminate it widely.

Irena Ondrová, mayor of the regional capital Zlín and ex-senator of the parliament of the Czech Republic, expressed her support for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence. From the onset, the Mayor felt drawn by the idea of the march, which is why she supported the celebrations of its opening ceremony, which took place the 2nd October in La Paz square, Zlín.

Finnish President Tarja Halonen received a delegation of the World March for Peace and Non-Violence that had recently arrived from Estonia in the official presidential residence in Helsinki. Halonen expressed her public support for the March, saying, “The government of Finland supports the total elimination of nuclear arms”.

A group made up of Estonian Liberal and Green Party MPs, led by Toomas Trapido, welcomed the World March base team to Tallinn. Rafael de la Rubia, spokesperson for the march, presented the Parliament with the March Manifesto, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol and the *Charter for a World without Violence* drafted by Nobel Peace Laureates.

On October 25th, “The March for Equality” concluded in Madrid, having begun on September 23 in Barcelona. It finished with a protest against reform of the Immigration Law. The protest came to a close with the reading of a declaration that lists reasons for opposing this law, which is presently going through the parliamentary process.

As the centerpiece for Fall of Berlin Wall Celebration, convening in Berlin, Germany, 9-11 November 2009, the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates will join heads of state and government invited by the German government for the national celebration.
Chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev and Walter Veltroni, co-chairman of the summit, the event is hosted by the City of Berlin.

The five anti-nuclear activists who used their bodies to peacefully block access to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston last autumn, told Reading Magistrates’ Court during their trial that they were acting in a non-violent way in order to prevent future war crimes involving nuclear weapons.
More details can be found at: www.tridentploughshares.org

Every year the United Nations organises this week to coincide with the anniversary of its founding. The aim is to raise awareness among all of the UN’s member states of the danger posed by the arms race, to propagate the need to put an end to it and to foster a better public understanding of the urgent task of disarmament.

CND welcomes the decision by politicians in Plymouth to oppose plans for a nuclear waste factory in the center of their city.
In preparation for a major protest demonstration march on Saturday 31st October, Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, welcomed the decision of Plymouth Council leader to challenge nuclear dump at Plymouth’s Devonport Dockyard.