Euromayday Aachen / Karlspreis-Protest 2008

The Charlemagne Prize of the City of Aachen which has been awarded annually since 1950, increasingly proves to be a central progandistic event for approving and glorifying the antidemocratic, neo-liberal, militaristic, and imperial concept of Europe.

This year’s award of the Prize to Angela Merkel has been justified with her role in putting through the Treaty of Lisbon, so-called EU Reform Treaty. This Treaty which is widely identical with the failed European Constitutional Treaty shall not only be put through in an undemocratic way – only in Ireland, there are plans for a referendum –, but it also provides for the infamous armament obligations and the establishment of the neo-liberal economic order.

In addition, Sarkozy’s invitation is a slap in the face of migrant youths, who the then Minister of Interior, Sarkozy, wanted to fight "with a high-pressure water blaster" in France.

Resistance against such celebrations of Europe in Aachen is urgently required. Ahead of the Award of the Charlemagne Prize on 1st May 2008, a critical programme of events is planned. On the day of the award of the Prize, the request for a completely different policy in Europe will be reinforced by manifold protest actions.