The flag of the global alliance of cities" (opens in a new tab)Mayors for Peace" was raised.

With this campaign, the "Mayors for Peace" are campaigning this year for the extension of the New Start treaty. The agreement signed by the USA and Russia came into force in 2011. It is the last remaining agreement to limit nuclear weapons. The treaty expires in February 2021. They also appeal to the nuclear powers to sign the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

However, the terrible atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 years ago will also be commemorated.

The Chief Administrative Officers state: "We, the Mayors for Peace, are very concerned that there are still many nuclear warheads in the world. A world that is increasingly characterized by countless violent conflicts, armed conflicts and terrorism. A world that seems to be coming apart at the seams. It is therefore all the more important to draw attention to the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons on today's Flag Day."

Many cities are taking part in the nationwide campaign. It is a reminder of a legal opinion issued by the International Court of Justice in The Hague - the main judicial body of the United Nations - on July 8, 1996, which states that the threat and use of nuclear weapons is generally incompatible with the rules of the international humanitarian law of war.

Although the report is not binding, it is nevertheless of great importance: the states of the international community are reminded of their "obligation under international law" to enter into serious negotiations on the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Further information:
Mayors for Peace Germany c/o City of Hanover, Office of the Lord Mayor
Address: Trammplatz 2, 30159 Hanover
E-mail: mayorsforpeacehannover-stadtde