Flag day: 600 cities are calling for the end of the nuclear armament

Flag day: 600 cities are calling for the end of the nuclear armament

Berlin, Deutschland - On July 8, 2025, the annual flag day of the "Mayors for Peace" will take place, which is celebrated in over 600 cities in Germany. On this day, the international doctors call for the contraception of the nuclear war (IPPNW) for nuclear disarmament and to support the UN atomic weapon ban. Events, speeches and vigils are carried out, especially in cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt, Aachen, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Stuttgart and Mutlangen. Dr. Angelika Clauss, the chairwoman of the IPPNW, criticizes Jens Spahn's claim, the CDU parliamentary group leader, for a European nuclear protection screen. She argues that a German atomic bomb would violate the non-distribution contract and the 2+4 contract on German unity.

The current geopolitical situation, in particular the continuing conflicts and wars in several of the nine nuclear weapons, leads to an alarming warning of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), which counts over 12,241 nuclear warheads worldwide. Many of these countries that have nuclear weapons are currently involved in military disputes. IPPNW not only calls for immediate disarmament, but also the resumption of negotiations on nuclear arms control. On this flag day, a legal opinion of the International Court of Justice is also reminded, which on July 8, 1996 declared the international obligation to disarm.

demands of the "Mayors for Peace"

The "Mayors for Peace" network, which was founded in 1982 by the Mayor of Hiroshima, is committed to a world without nuclear weapons. With over 8,000 cities from 166 countries, including more than 800 members in Germany, the organization aims to increase its number of members from almost 8,500 to 10,000. It not only calls for disarmament, but also the deduction of all US atomic bombs from Germany and Europe, especially against the background of the impending stationing of marching aircraft from 2026, which could make Germany a potential goal for Russian nuclear weapons. This tension is reinforced by the risks of nuclear war, which has increased in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.

A remarkable point is the fact that despite the signing of the nuclear weapons ban by 94 states, 73 of which ratified the contract, the development and stationing of nuclear weapons continues on a global standard. According to [[telepolis.de]] (https://www.telepolis.de/features/8-000-staedte- against-atomare-upruestung-10253682.html) in 2022 gave around $ 91.4 billion for these weapons, which further the urgency of the disarmament policy further on national and international level underline.

challenges of the nuclear armor control

The invention of core weapons has created an existential threat to humanity and has led to a logic of nuclear deterrence for decades, which was characterized by the Cold War. Despite international efforts to control armaments, such as the nuclear non -distribution contract from 1968, the atomic armor debate is still a highly topical and controversial topic. The stagnating multilateral armor control, which has made little progress since the 1990s, is particularly worrying. At the same time, the ban on nuclear weapons, which was accepted in 2017, still has to come into force. In order to master the challenges, a new approach for nuclear armor control and armor is required.

This complex mixture, the striving for a more peaceful world and the warning to revive international cooperation make the flag day of the "Mayors for Peace" an important signal for future politics of armament and armor control, in which every way to nuclear disarmament should be paved. In this sense, it is crucial that we take the messages of the organizations and the concerns of the IPPNW seriously.