Press Release: EuroSatory exhibition

Find the press release in French here.

The “Mondial de la Défense et de la Sécurité”, known as EuroSatory, will be held in Villepinte in Paris from 13th to 17th June 2022. Presented as the world’s largest arms fair, it takes place every two years (except in 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic). Two weeks later, a NATO summit will be held in Madrid, and a counter-summit is being prepared by the international collective “No-to-war, No-to-NATO”. But rest assured, there will be no more Russian exhibitors and two Ukrainian companies have already been announced! In this period of war in Eastern Europe, this murderous display has all the makings of a deadly provocation. The height of duplicity, the visual of this exhibition includes a globe in the rainbow colours of Peace! The announced massive deliveries of arms to Ukraine illustrate the fact that the arms trade only increases general insecurity by prolonging hostilities. There is an urgent need for a ceasefire as foreseen in the Minsk 2 agreement of 2015.

According to SIPRI, global military spending in 2021 reached USD 2113 billion, exceeding the symbolic 2000 billion mark for the first time. This expenditure has doubled in 20 years. Although the total global arms trade is declining slightly, imports to Europe, East Asia and Oceania are increasing. Exports from France and the US are growing strongly. In 2022, we can expect an even greater increase in these budgets to “feed” the war in Ukraine with weapons and to replenish the stocks of the belligerents. Ukraine with the NATO countries, especially the USA, and Russia. We can thus affirm that the big winners of this war are the world’s arms companies. In 1922, Anatole France said “we think we’re dying for the fatherland; we’re dying for industrialists”.

This murderous mercantile display has reached an intolerable level. Weapons are sold to be used, the consequences of their use are multiple, firstly directly against goods and people, but also by accelerating climate change and its consequences on populations.

There is just over a month left to mobilise and demand that this market of shame doesn’t take place, or at least that the 2022 market be the last. A rally will be held on Wednesday 15 June at Place de la République in Paris, called by the member organisations of the collective against the EuroSatory exhibition. They will also be present at the entrance of the exhibition (at the exit of the RER). The presence of international delegations is announced. Several rallies are planned in several cities of France. We will keep you informed of the concrete conditions of these initiatives.

An international petition will be very soon proposed for signature to as many countries as possible, given the global nature of this exhibition. The terms of the petition will be the same as in this press release.

Saint Ouen, 31 May 2022

Please find more information here.