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International blockade of Belgian nuclear weapons base at Kleine Brogel draws significant support
A colourful, international, blockade of Kleine Brogel nuclear weapon base in Belgium has drawn significant political support from Belgian members of parliament and prominent Belgian people, including Jean-Luc Dehaene, former Belgian Prime Minister and Member of the European Parliament. The blockade received the support of the local mayor and city council. The blockade also included 40 young people from 15 European countries. The blockade was organised to mark the 61st anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9th August 1945. The police, under the orders of the local mayor, refused to arrest the 100 people who were present. The blockade effectively closed the three main gates of the base for 3 hours. No traffic passed in or out of the base during this time. The blockade included people from Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and Wales. Kleine Brogel airbase, in the east of Belgium, is home to 20 US nuclear weapons. Each of these bombs has an explosive power equivalent to 10 times the bomb which killed 74,000 people in Nagasaki on 9th August 1945. The United States bases an estimated 480 nuclear weapons in 6 countries across Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, the UK, and Turkey. In 1996, the International Court of Justice (the world's highest legal body) issued a ruling that the use or threat of nuclear weapons would generally be illegal under the rules of international law. The blockade drew considerable support from Belgian mayors, many of whom are members of the international "Mayors for Peace" network, which calls for the global abolition of nuclear weapons by the year 2020. The Belgian members of parliament supporting the blockade are calling on the Belgian government to implement the resolutions passed last year in the Belgian Senate and House of Representatives, which demanded the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from Belgium and Europe. The Belgian government has so far refused to act on these resolutions. David Heller, a participant in the blockade from England stated: "At a time when the world's attention is focussed on the war in the Middle East, and the United States, France and Britain are all discussing modernising their nuclear weapons, it is important that people from around the world take a stand against nuclear weapons and against war. We have given a clear signal that we will not allow preparations for war crimes to continue in Belgium or anywhere else in the world." The common statement of the youth participants in the blockade can be found at:
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