Upgrade | Over 11,000 signatures against the arms industry in Leipzig

The rocket manufacturer Covenant has already moved into a production hall in Leipzig. Photo: dpa/Jan Woitas Protest against the establishment of defense companies is growing in Leipzig. An online petition against the expansion of the city into an armaments location, launched on September 1st on World Peace Day by the “Leipzig remains peaceful!” initiative, has already been signed by more than 11,300 supporters. It had previously been submitted to the city and the Saxon state parliament after exceeding the 10,000 signature mark. Meanwhile, the city has confirmed the establishment of another company that wants to develop and later produce artillery systems in Leipzig. There are also inquiries from other companies.

The trigger for the petition was the settlement of the Covenant company, which became known at the beginning of September and wants to produce cruise missiles with a range of 1,500 kilometers in Leipzig. The US-Israeli company wants to start production next year and officially moved into a production hall at the beginning of October in the presence of Saxony's Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU). Initially 1,000 and later up to 5,000 units will be produced there per year.

The Anthem-type weapons are said to be significantly cheaper than the US tomahawks. They should carry explosive charges of 200 kilograms and can be used for precision strikes far behind enemy lines. According to the company, the systems manufactured in Leipzig are intended for European customers. It was recently announced that we have received our first major order from Denmark. The contracts with the Ministry of Defense have been signed. Quantities and delivery dates were not mentioned for security reasons.

The petition, however, opposes Leipzig becoming an armaments location. The city with its 634,000 inhabitants is "not an uninhabited industrial wasteland," but such settlements make it a potential "target of attacks" in a possible war, it is said. "Anyone who brings arms production to a big city must not act as if it were the establishment of any company in order to strengthen the economy." The initiators of the petition are calling for "complete transparency" about planned establishments of armaments companies, an independent investigation of possible risks and a public, critical debate.

In addition, a fundamental decision is needed on the establishment of defense companies. Leipzig cannot “at the same time be proud of the Peaceful Revolution and act as if it were a trivial matter when the city is increasingly becoming part of military production structures and logistics and the Central German military cluster,” emphasizes the “Leipzig remains peaceful!” initiative. It was co-founded by Harald Bretschneider, pioneer of the church peace movement in the GDR and initiator of the “swords into plowshares” symbol, as well as by Saxony's former interior minister Horst Rasch and the former district administrator Gerhard Gey (both CDU). The initiative had already started a petition against the militarization of Leipzig-Halle Airport in 2020.

"Anyone who brings arms production to a big city must not act as if it were just an arbitrary company setting up shop in order to strengthen the economy."

However, Mayor Burkhard Jung (SPD) rejected such a fundamental decision at a city council meeting this week. Rather, one will “decide for each individual case” whether inquiries from companies in the “defense industry” will be positively accompanied. There are a larger number of these, as Economic Mayor Clemens Schülke (CDU) informed. According to him, there were 17 inquiries, five of which were still “active”.

In addition to Covenant, another company called Falk Defense has already set up shop in Leipzig. It wants to produce rockets with a range of up to 100 kilometers. The company has moved into a hall and an office and currently employs ten people who are working on developing a prototype. At the same time, a production location is already being sought in the Leipzig region.

Schülke emphasized that the “manufacture of defense equipment” is an “economic activity that is desirable for federal policy.” In addition, the industry is currently one of the few that is looking for space for new locations. With the current inquiries, up to 700 jobs are in prospect. The city must take advantage of this “opportunity”.

Parts of the city council see things significantly differently. The Left has submitted an urgent motion calling for defense companies to be prevented from establishing themselves “in the entire city area”. To this end, the administration should “exploit all legally available means.” Municipal land should not be made available. At the council meeting, the BSW reiterated the call for a “moratorium” on settlement decisions. City councilor Thomas Kachel reminded that a new mayor will be elected in February. The “new administration” may have a different attitude towards the defense industry in Leipzig.

The outgoing incumbent, Jung, emphasized that the city council could “decide at any time” whether, for example, city land should be denied, as Die Linke had demanded. He himself had "clearly decided" that interested parties would be rejected if their project was associated with dangers from explosives or biochemical substances. According to Schülke, this led to the rejection of seven of the 17 inquiries. Jung also emphasized his “clear stance” that he was not aiming to form a “cluster” and was not actively recruiting arms companies.

The initiators of the petition are skeptical about this. They believe it is a given that “the government and the arms lobby are pushing forward the development of the Central German military cluster” and are calling for an honest debate. There is also support for such demands on the streets. Only in the past few days have there been renewed calls for demonstrations from an alliance “No Rocket Factory!” and the Leipzig Solidarity Network.

Other media have corporations or billionaires behind them. We have the nd.Genossenschaft and readers like you. That makes us independent and that’s exactly how we want to remain. But it also means: without you the calculation won't work. We need 300,000 euros by the end of the year.

You can donate directly here, one-time or regularly, so that nd stays.