Drumbeats, cowbells and chants of "Ami, go home!" echoed through the streets of the German village of Ramstein-Miesenbach on Sunday, as a large gathering of anti-war protesters took to the streets with Russian flags and handwritten placards.
Meanwhile in France, after earlier mass pension fund protests, Monday mass protests against France's NATO membership and its continued support of Kiev were held on Sunday in the capital Paris and in other locations across the country.
he demonstrations, taking place for the second consecutive weekend, were organized by the right-wing Les Patriotes party, led by Florian Philippot, who personally attended the rally in Paris.
The politician claimed the event on Sunday, dubbed National March for Peace, attracted even more participants than last week, when some 10,000 showed up for a rally in the French capital. According to Philippot, smaller-scale anti-NATO protests were held at some 30 other locations across France as well.
Nouvelle manifestation contre la subvention de la guerre en Ukraine 🇺🇦 et la sortie de la France 🇫🇷de l’OTAN.
— Tamila Tapayeva (@tamilatapayeva) February 26, 2023
Les médias continuent de nous ignorer, mais la résistance monte en France👊
👉Des milliers de personnes à Paris ce 26/02/23 @_LesPatriotes @f_philippot ! #1an pic.twitter.com/3XKhijHoRc
Protesters marched through the streets of Paris, carrying a large banner reading "For Peace." The marchers called for the withdrawal of France from both the US-led NATO and from the EU, and urged a halt to supplying Ukraine with weaponry. The protesters also took jabs at the incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron, chanting "Macron get out!" – a slogan commonly used by assorted anti-government protesters throughout his presidency.
Following the march, the protesters held a rally led by Philippot, who was filmed defacing NATO and EU flags alongside his supporters. Footage of the event was shared by the politician himself on social media.
The politician has been actively staging protests against French membership in NATO and the EU since last fall, while arguing against the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Between 2012 and 2017, Philippot was the deputy head of the biggest opposition party in France, the National Rally, led until last year by Marine Le Pen. After leaving the National Rally, the 41-year-old politician established his own right-wing party, Les Patriotes.
On a déchiré les drapeaux de l’UE et de l’OTAN aujourd’hui en #MarcheNationalePourLaPaix !
— Florian Philippot (@f_philippot) February 26, 2023
Le symbole de notre libération !
➡️ Sortons de l’OTAN et l’UE, organisations de guerre !
Vidéo ! ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/st3pOEKmj9
France has been among the top supporters of Kiev in the ongoing conflict with Russia, which broke out a year ago. While Macron has repeatedly called for a diplomatic settlement of the hostilities, Paris has actively supplied assorted weaponry to Ukraine, including armored vehicles and advanced self-propelled howitzers.
In Germany the protests were organized by a mix of right-wing German politicians and Russian expatriates, protesters marched from the small Ramstein railway station towards the main gate of Ramstein Air Base, the largest US Air Force installation in Europe.
Focusing on Russia's war in Ukraine, the protest drew large crowds who shared organizers' pro-Kremlin views. They also include supporters of nuclear disarmament and anti-vaccine activists. German police estimated a crowd of 2,500 people at peak, according to a statement Sunday.
The protest also was aimed at the U.S. presence in the country. "Ami" is a German abbreviated term for American, often used in a derogatory way.
Roads surrounding Ramstein and the base main gate were temporarily shut down to vehicle traffic to provide the protesters with safe passage.
“We respect citizens’ right to exercise freedom of speech, expression and opinion,” a spokeswoman with the 86th Airflift Wing told Stars and Stripes ahead of the protest.
The march and rally occurred without incident, police said.
The couple at the center of Sunday's protest, Elena Kolbasnikova and Max Schlund, are known for organizing similar protests throughout Germany.
Schlund was identified in a Reuters report in January as Rostislav Teslyuk, a former Russian air force officer. A later Reuters report stated that the couple had donated 500 euros to a Russian rifle division, and that they received tickets from the Berlin arm of a Russian state cultural promotion agency, Rossotrudnichestvo, to travel to Moscow for a conference addressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The couple has expressed their opposition to what they see as Western aggression against Russia.
They chose Ramstein Air Base as the location of their protest because it is a hub for U.S. military operations in Europe, Kolbasnikova said.
The base also is the site of the recurring Ukraine Defense Contact Group, where international defense leaders have repeatedly discussed military aid for Ukraine.
“I’m very happy with the day and that so many people showed up, and that so many in this country understand what’s really going on,” Kolbasnikova said after the protest. “The media only shows one-sided truth. We’re here to say that we don’t all agree.”
Kolbasnikova, who describes herself as a Ukrainian-born Russian, said that ending weapons deliveries to Ukraine would force negotiations and an eventual peace. When asked about her contributions to the Russian war effort as reported by Reuters, Kolbasnikova declined to comment and walked away.
Most Western security analysts disagree with her views. In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and supported separatists in the eastern part of country in battles that left 14,000 dead through 2021, according to United Nations figures.
On Feb. 24 last year, Russia launched a full-scale invasion, including a failed attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. The U.S. and NATO allies have spent billions of dollars arming Ukraine to defend itself against Russia, which has suffered setbacks but still holds large areas of Ukraine.
Moscow’s gains have come at the cost of well over 100,000 soldiers killed, according to allied estimates. Ukraine also has seen high death counts among soldiers and civilians, had millions of its citizens displaced and suffered considerable damage to its cities and infrastructure.
The German government has backed Ukraine since Russia’s attack last year, though it has taken criticism from allies for slowly coming around on giving Kyiv offensive weaponry. Germany had been largely dependent on Russian energy purchases until last year’s invasion.
And while Cold War-era West Germany and the unified German state that followed has long been a U.S. ally, some across the political spectrum have long maintained links to Russia.
For example, the far-right Alternative for Germany party was represented at Sunday’s protest. But Gerhard Schroeder, a former German chancellor for the ruling center-left Social Democratic Party, has served on the boards of Russian companies and defended Putin. Schroeder narrowly survived an internal bid last year to oust him from the party he once led.
Ramstein Air Base has been a focus of anti-war activism in Germany for decades. Protesters generally have gathered annually in recent years to demonstrate against U.S. drone operations, among other activities.
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