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According to Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, there is no justification for Russia's attack on Ukraine. Even if you were of the opinion that the West had given Russia or the Soviet Union cause for concern about their own security, a preventive war against Ukraine was incomprehensible, said Wadephul at an event organized by the Evangelical Church of Germany on the occasion of the publication of a new peace memorandum this week. Russia obviously sees it the same way, otherwise it would not justify the attack with the “adventurous declaration” of wanting to eliminate a fascist regime headed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, a Jew. He was happy to discuss what could be done or whether opportunities for agreement had been missed in the past, but none of this justified “this barbaric war.” “We have every ethical right and obligation to stand by Ukraine's side. ”

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The Ukraine conflict itself is not directly mentioned in this context in the EKD memorandum, which nevertheless reemphasizes the positions of the 2007 policy paper in view of a “world in disorder.” The new memorandum states that there is no general ethical obligation to provide emergency aid through arms supplies; the individual case must be considered. The support argument could also be misused for political purposes. Decisions for arms exports must also be measured by whether the escalation of violence is avoided. According to Wadephul, he knew that this issue was being discussed controversial within the EKD. But in his opinion, hardly anywhere has the criteria for support been met as clearly as in Ukraine.

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According to EKD chair Kirsten Fehrs, the specific case was not discussed in order to preserve the exemplary character of the statements on peace ethics. However, peace ethics and security policy would be considered more closely together than before. The guideline of all considerations is a just peace, which is more than the absence of war, which also includes protection against violence, the promotion of freedom, the reduction of inequality and dealing with plurality.

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The military must always be measured against its goals, emphasized Reiner Anselm, Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich and chairman of the editorial team of the new memorandum. Counterviolence could only be the ultimate ratio if all other means had been exhausted. However, the memorandum also expressly states that a state has the right to self-defense in order to protect its citizens from both an international and theological-ethical perspective. However, according to Anselm on the subject currently hotly debated in Germany, compulsory military service should only exist if the protection of the community can no longer be voluntarily maintained. The memorandum stimulates a social debate about this.

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The EKD is in favour of a clear ethical no to nuclear weapons, but admits a dilemma because abandoning them could pose a serious threat to individual states. For example, a no to nuclear participation by Europeans is barely justifiable at present, according to Anselm. Nonetheless, the vision of nuclear weapons freedom remains the same, and NATO should develop initiatives to that effect.

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When asked whether peace could still be saved, Wadephul answered with a resounding yes. The confidence to be able to make a difference is part of understanding politics. “War is never inevitable.” However, Russian doctrine no longer distinguishes between war and peace — when you look at recent events, including drones over Poland, acts of sabotage, disinformation. The memorandum is also dedicated to hybrid warfare, where civil society resilience is regarded as a central task of preventive peace policy in addition to defense capacity. According to German security authorities, Wadephul said, Russia was capable of launching a large-scale attack on NATO by 2029. Diplomatic efforts would be stepped up, but they could also fail because today's Russia could barely be reached in this way. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, there is no justice and no pluralism, but in the case of Ukraine only submission and assimilation into the Russian “Mir” (World).

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