20 February 2019
* Molly Scott Cato one of three Green MEPs arrested for breaking into Belgian military airbase to protest stockpiling of American B61 nuclear bombs
* Sian Berry, co-leader of the Green Party, said: “These Green MEPs will be found on the right side of history for the principled actions they have taken”
Molly Scott Cato, Green Party MEP for the South West, is one of three MEPs arrested after breaking into a Belgian military airbase to protest against its stockpiling of American B61 nuclear bombs.
The MEPs scaled the perimeter fence and blocked the runway holding a large banner which read: “Europe free of nuclear weapons.”
The MEPs are currently being held and questioned in a local police station. They are likely to be released later today. [1]
Sian Berry AM, co-leader of the Green Party, said:
“We stand in full solidarity with our brilliant MEP Molly and her Green colleagues who have been arrested for taking a stand against nuclear weapons.
“These bombs have the potential to kill millions of people. They make us less safe, are obsolete in modern warfare and are a colossal waste of money. It is only right all US nuclear weapons are removed from Europe.
“Greens are never afraid to put their bodies on the line for what is right. These Green MEPs will be found on the right side of history for the principled actions they have taken.”
Ahead of the protest, Molly Scott Cato MEP said:
“Our action is intended to challenge EU countries to remove US nuclear weapons from European soil. Each B61 bomb is 23 times more powerful than the bomb that devastated Hiroshima. These apocalyptic weapons should find no home in Europe.
“We demand that Europe’s nuclear nations immediately sign up to the landmark global Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and begin the process of decommissioning their nuclear arsenals.
“Nuclear weapons are obsolete in an era of asymmetric warfare and cyber warfare and have no place in a European defence policy for the 21st century. Britain and France have ignored their obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons for far too long.”
ENDS.
For more information contact: press@greenparty.org.uk / 0203 691 9401
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