Germans Object to Canadian Plans for Lahr

The townspeople of Lahr, West Germany, have directed a message to the Canadian public, expressing their objections to a planned expansion of the Canadian airbase near their town. Some 6,000 Canadian soldiers are stationed there as part of Canada's participation within NATO. That airport is being enlarged, and in the town of Emmendingen, about 30 km from ILahr, between two NATO airports, a big ammunition depot is being planned. Solid bunkers and ordnance depots are going to be built, which will cost about $34 million, Canadian.

Thousands of residents of the surrounding communities have signed the proclamation of a citizens' action committee against the ammunition depot, giving four reasons for their opposition. First, it is within a drinking water preservation area serving 30,000 people. The NATO forces are not subject to the strict German regulations protecting the water.

Second, the control surrounding any military installation interferes with democratic processes and freedom.

Third, the plan runs counter to the changes taking place in the USSR and Eastern Europe, which show that peace and disarmament are possible.

Fourth, peace can only be guaranteed by anti-militarism and measures that build confidence.

The opponents of this plan ask the Canadian public to urge that answers be provided for a list of questions that has been submitted to the Canadian embassy in Bonn. Our members ofparliament should be notified of German objections to this expansion.

Contact Siegfried Ziebold-Drechse4 Altdorfstrasse 40, D7880 Emmendingen 14, West Germany.

Peace Magazine Apr-May 1990

Peace Magazine Apr-May 1990, page 18. Some rights reserved.

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