Alarmed by the Orwellian language that has taken hold in European political discourse—where war is seen as the path to peace, while peace is said to lead only to more war—we call for sanity.
We, the European citizens, have become involuntary passengers on a train driven by leaders who, under the declared pretext of "making Russia bleed," choose to ignore the disastrous consequences of a conflict in which we will all be losers.
On the eve of past European conflicts, such as World War I, courageous intellectuals from the warring nations—including Jean Jaurès, Romain Rolland, Bertha von Suttner, and Bertrand Russell—publicly spoke out for peace, though sadly, their voices were not heeded.
Today, the silence of intellectuals across all countries is deafening. Like the rest of European citizens, they seem worryingly anesthetized. And when someone dares to raise their voice in favour of diplomacy, they are immediately slandered as a "puppet of Putin."
We unequivocally condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a violation of international law. However, we also recognize that this tragedy is partly a consequence of the persistence of a military organization, NATO, labelled as "defensive," which, far from dissolving after the fall of the communist bloc, continued expanding right up to Russia’s borders—despite high-level promises made to Russia at the time.
The war in Ukraine has now lasted three years. The casualties on both sides far exceed one million, including the dead, wounded and permanently maimed, though neither country provides official figures.
On top of that, millions of Ukrainians have fled the country—some to Western Europe, others to Russia—all seeking to escape the violence. A true human disaster.
Donald Trump's United States, more focused on what it perceives as China's growing power and the situation in the Middle East, seems determined to exploit Ukraine while also indebting Europe, further weakening its social welfare systems for the benefit of the U.S. military industry.
And our governments, refusing to accept that, given the imbalance of forces, the war is lost, continue to support the Ukrainian president by promising more weapons and money so that the Ukrainian army can fight to the last man or woman.
All of this while they push for the rapid militarization of our nations under the spectre of an impending conflict with Russia.
Have our leaders considered that, since the arms limitation agreements signed during the Cold War—so crucial in maintaining peace—no longer exist, a military confrontation with a nuclear power like Russia could lead to a third, and this time final, world war?
We call on politicians not to forget the two great wars that bloodied the continent in the last century. Abandoning George Orwell’s newspeak, they must work actively in favour of diplomatic solutions.
It is the only way to prevent future massacres that devastate nations for the mere profit of the powerful arms industry.

Fernando Aguiar González 
Javier Aguirre Santos 
Luis Alegre Zahonero 
Tariq Ali 
Luis Alonso 
Txetxu Ausín Díez 
Daniela de Barros Barreto
Olga Belmonte García 
Constantino Bértolo 
Marie-Hélène Caillol 
Jorge Cano Cuenca 
Marta Castellanos Garcés
Alberto Conde 
Juan Luis Conde 
Federico Corriente Basús
Inés Delgado-Echagüe
Graciela Fainstein Lamuedra 
Thomas Fazi 
Carlos Fernández Liria 
Amelia Gamoneda 
Marysol García Martínez
Susana Gómez López 
Belén Gopegui 
Ulrike Guérot 
Gabriele Gysi 
Pollux Hernúñez 
Maite Imbernón
Corinna Kirchhoff 
Bernard Legros 
Félix Manzarbeitia Arambarri
Bernd Marizzi 
Elisa Martínez Garrido 
Ricardo Martínez Llorca
Pilar Muñoz 
Emilio Muñoz Ruiz
Viviana Paletta 
Pepe Peña
Kees van der Pijl 
Rafael Poch-de-Feliu 
Manuel Quejido Villarejo
Joaquín Rábago 
Hauke Ritz 
Andy Robinson 
Jorge Rubio Redondo
Matilde Sáenz
Javier Sáez de Ibarra 
José Luis Santalla 
Fernando Sanz Santa-Cruz 
Berta Sarralde
Michael von der Schulenburg 
Federico Soto Díaz-Casariego
Peter van Stigt 
Olegario Torralba 
Luis Torrego Egido 
Jorge Valdano Sáenz