David Miliband

Fateful day in Danzig

On September 1st 1939 the German battleship Schleswig Holstein bombarded the Polish garrison in the free city of Danzig (now Gdansk, where the Solidarity movement was born in 1981).  This was the beginning of World War 2. Within days (September 3) Britain and the Allies had declared war; within weeks Warsaw was under siege and the Soviet Union had invaded from the East.  The monumental death and destruction of the war, and the consequential division of Europe, was underway.

This September 1st, the 70th anniversary, I will be in Gdansk for a ceremony marking the fateful day.  Six million Poles died in the war (20 per cent of the population) and over 3 million Polish Jews (90 per cent of the pre war minority).  And the expulsion of the Germans did not bring liberation for the Poles; they went from Nazi occupation to Communist domination.  Real liberation was delayed until 1989 with the collapse of  Communism.

This will be a poignant return to Poland for me, as my mother survived the War in hiding in Poland before coming to the UK in 1946.  The representation by Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Putin recognises  the particular history between these two countries and Poland.  Their speeches will also reflect the dramatic change brought on by the passage of time, the process of European integration, and the end of the Cold War.

We have a duty to remember the sacrifices, including of Poles fighting in and alongside British forces, and to learn the right lessons - about confronting racism and xenophobia, about standing up against tyranny, and about building international co-operation. In that context, Poland's entry into the EU in 2004, alongside other countries from the former eastern bloc of Europe, represents a huge step towards the final closing of of a terrible set of chapters of European history.

Posted at 13:01 31 August 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[5]

Pelindaba Treaty: Africa joins nuclear free club

Burundi's ratification in July of the Pelindaba Treaty making Africa a nuclear weapon-free zone means the Treaty now comes into force.  The Treaty ensures nuclear weapons are not developed, acquired or stationed in Africa and that nuclear science and technology activities take place under strict non-proliferation measures.  South Africa did develop a nuclear weapons capacity during the apartheid era but signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1991. 

The next month in the run up to and at the UN General Assembly will be a busy month on nuclear non-proliferation and this is a welcome reminder that all countries around the world have an interest in taking seriously all responsibilities under the nuclear proliferation treaty, including nuclear disarmament and safe production of nuclear power.

Posted at 12:33 31 August 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[4]

Senator Edward Kennedy

The death of Senator Edward Kennedy represents the closing of one chapter in the Kennedy family history, and in the history of legislative change in America.  But the causes for which Senator Kennedy fought, and his ideals, live on in the laws he passed, the words he spoke, and in the public service of succeeding generations of Kennedys. 

The loss of two brothers to political assassination seems to have motivated greater rather than less commitment to political change; a remarkable testimony.  I was lucky enough in 1988 to receive a Kennedy Scholarship to the United States, set up in memory of the late President Kennedy.  Senator Kennedy came to take a keen interest in this enduring emblem of US/UK relations and that is one way in which the work of his generation will be taken forward.

Senator Kennedy gave a remarkable speech at the 1980 Democratic Convention in which he quoted Tennyson ("I am a part of all that I have been"), and ended with soaring rhetoric that "the dream shall never die".  His passing is rightly being used in America and around the world to pay tribute to his contribution to public life.

Posted at 18:45 26 August 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[5]