Uncomfortable voices unwanted? Ever new hurdles for the Munich Peace Conference

Press release | February 8, 2025

Uncomfortable voices unwanted? Ever new hurdles for the Munich Peace Conference

The 23rd International Munich Peace Conference is just around the corner – but the challenges are not diminishing. Funding cut, rooms withdrawn, security requirements tightened at the last minute – the civil society alternative to the Munich Security Conference (MSC) is coming under increasing pressure.

Political influence or coincidence?

This year’s Peace Conference started with a shortfall of €16,000 in funding after the City of Munich’s Department of Culture and subsequently other donors withdrew their funding in 2024 – under the political influence of the SPD and Greens in the city council. But that was just the beginning:

Shortly before Christmas, the rental agreement with the Catholic Academy for the 2025 conference was canceled without any reason being given.
Eight weeks before the start of the conference, a new room had to be found for two evenings with up to 400 people each.
The option available at short notice – the smartvillage – is considerably more expensive than previous venues.

Thanks to an initial wave of donations and the support of civil society, the conference could nevertheless be secured.

Now, just one week before the start, the next hurdle:

🔺 The landlord suddenly demands a certified security concept with an external security agency.
🔺 At least three security guards per evening – at a cost of several thousand euros.
🔺 The requirement is justified by the visit of US Vice President J. D. Vance to the MSC – although there are no security risks for the peace conference

The police themselves do not see any security risks or planned protests. The event is registered with the district administration department (KVR) – which is normally sufficient.

“First they cut our funding, then they took away our rooms, and now they’re imposing excessive security requirements out of nowhere – it’s no longer a coincidence,” says Maria R. Feckl, Director of the Munich Peace Conference. “Critical discussions on German foreign policy are obviously being systematically made more difficult.”

What topics are so uncomfortable?

The Peace Conference is dedicated to topics that are often only discussed one-sidedly in the German public sphere:

✅ The militarization of Germany: “war capability” as a new model?
✅ Critical perspectives on Western foreign policy – also in relation to Israel.
✅ The EU’s deadly isolationism – a violation of human rights?

“We ask questions that need to be asked,” says Maria R. Feckl. “It is our democratic right to analyze and critically debate. Public debate is being increasingly restricted here. ”

Demand: Transparency & fairness

If these security requirements are really just “precautionary measures” for the US Vice President, then the additional costs should be borne by the US or the MSC itself – not by a civil society peace conference.

The IMFK persists despite all resistance – and demands:

✔ An end to political influence on peace policy events.
✔ Equal standards for public events – even if they do not fit the political narrative.
✔ A transparent justification for security requirements that are only imposed one week before the start of an event.

📌 The conference will take place as planned!
📍 Location: smartvillage, Rosenkavalierplatz 13, Munich
💻 Online participation free of charge via: www.friedenskonferenz.info

“Silencing uncomfortable voices – not with us!” – Maria R. Feckl

Contact:

📞 Maria R. Feckl – Project Management International Munich Peace Conference
📧 office@friedenskonferenz.info
📍 Phone: 0160 97 50 20 28

International Munich Peace Conference
℅ Helmut-Michael-Vogel Bildungswerk e.V.
Frauenlobstr. 24 Rgb., 80337 Munich

📢 More info: www.friedenskonferenz.info