Reviving European, multilateral, inclusive, negotiated peace-making, to help end the Russia-Ukraine war

WHY: The horrific Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine wars and the apparent unwillingness for negotiated solutions can make us forget that Europe has not only a tradition of conflict, but a long tradition of peace-making as well. 1648, 1815, 1878, 1919-23, 1945-1947, 1975, 1990, 2015 mark some of those historic moments on the Old Continent. Although not always easy, sometimes controversial or contested, those pacifying conventions of the past give us hope and indicate a possible way out of the current conflicts that have been triggered in Eastern Europe and West Asia. Normally the governments and other public authorities should initiate peace negotiations – but unfortunately, they rather tend to further escalate and prolong this war. Therefore, it falls to civil society to remind our leaders of their duty to maintain and restore peace. This ´European Peace Congress´ is one such attempt to revive the European culture of peace-making.