We are less than 90 seconds to midnight.
Genocide in Gaza. War in Ukraine. Escalation in the Congo. Bombs over Yemen. Bloodshed in Sudan. And tensions on the South China Sea.
The world is drifting toward total war — if we do not act now to prevent it.
In June, the Hague will host the 2025 NATO Summit, with its members preparing commitments to boost defence spending, ‘ReArm’ the old continent, and expand NATO’s global influence.
NATO General Secretary Mark Rutte has vowed to make the Hague Summit “a real success,” promising US President Donald Trump that it will “project American power on the world stage.”
Trump and his NATO allies have already made clear what they hope to do with that power: pursue the dominance of “Western civilization” across the planet, and enrich themselves along the way.
So as they prepare for war, we must prepare for peace.
The rapid rise of militarism on the Atlantic calls on us to build a global movement behind a common vision of dialogue, diplomacy, and sovereign equality among nations.
That is why — on 23-24 June, exactly fifty years from the signing of the Helsinki Accords — peoples from across the world will gather in Brussels for the International Forum for Peace with an objective to:
— Develop new diplomatic strategies for conflict resolution across the world
— Forge a coalition to oppose the rise of military spending on both sides of the Atlantic.
— Agitate for the immediate closure of foreign military bases on European soil.
— Challenge the narrative of a new Cold War that seeks to divide the world into irreconcilable blocs.
— Promote the policies of welfare, not warfare to deliver social and economic justice.
— Rejuvenate the movement for nuclear disarmament among all nuclear powers.
— Renew the principles of the Helsinki Accords on the occasion of their 50th anniversary.
FIRST DAY – MONDAY, JUNE 23
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Registration
2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Opening
— Welcome
– Video
– Messages
2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Plenary session
International mobilization for peace and security with personalities and representatives of movements, networks, progressive governments, etc.
5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Action for peace
Organized by the Belgian peace and social movement in a public square in the center of Brussels with a 'die-in' action on a giant PEACE flag, banners, slogans, music, and peace songs
8:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Political-cultural event 'Fight for peace!
— Artistic action, video, messages, and calls for solidarity and peace
— Peace concert
— Informal meetings and exchanges
SECOND DAY – TUESDAY, JUNE 24
9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
/1 Against militarization, war, and the arms race |
1b Consequences and struggles: migration and refugees
/2 For diplomatic and negotiated conflict resolution
11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
/3 A multipolar world: A pact for the future
/4 For an autonomous and peaceful Europe
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Plenary session
For a peaceful future in Europe and the world
3:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Closing
Presentation of the Manifesto of the Brussels International Peace Forum 2025
3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Press conference
* Format: Presentations and testimonies will be brief, to allow time and space for broad participation and exchange with the audience.
* Languages: The languages of the event are English, French, and Spanish. The opening and closing sessions, plenary sessions, and panels will have professional simultaneous interpretation; the workshops will not.
