Protesters rally in Munich calling on politicians to prioritise peace

Demonstrators gathered outside the Munich Security Conference (MSC) to protest against NATO, the arms industry and war and further weapons deliveries to Kyiv.

The protests were centred around a range of themes, including greater democracy, diversity and disarmament, as leading political from around the world debated global security and military issues at the annual Munich-based conference.

The motto of the event is “peace-capable instead of war-capable”, as protesters attempted to urge politicians to pursue options of peace and end fighting, hostilities and conflicts.

Demonstrators are in favour of disarmament and further weapons deliveries to Kyiv, which is fending off Russian attacks after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Demonstrators also voiced their objection to the planned stationing of US medium-range missiles in Germany from 2026.

There was a heavy police presence, with German media reporting that approximately 5,000 police officers were deployed to secure the vicinity.

Police say more than 2,500 people took part in three major demonstrations against the MSC on Saturday afternoon, adding that the protests remained peaceful.

A spokesperson for the police says that turn out at the protests was considerably lower than anticipated, due to Thursday’s vehicle attack.

On Thursday, a car ploughed into a trade union demonstration in Munich injuring at least 39 people. Protest organised decided to go ahead and hold the rallies anyway, after consulting with the authorities. Police say Thursday’s attacks may have impacted the turnout.

A separate rally was held in support of Ukraine. Participants of the rally demanded continued support to Kyiv, both financially and militarily.

Protesters carried signs and pictures of relatives killed by Russian forces, as well as soldiers and civilians reported missing.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeev spoke to the protesters where he asked Germans not to forget who is to blame for the influx of Ukrainian migrants to Germany.