Demonstrations are planned. The Catholic peace movement Pax Christi is using irony to express its opposition: “We congratulate the world’s largest peace movement,” it writes, “with 3.5 million combat-ready members and a budget of 1.5 trillion dollars.”
Cropped.jpg "The Treaty of Westphalia was signed in the Historic Hall of Münster City Hall. / Photo: [link]Günter Seggebäing[/link], CC BY-SA 3.0")
The Treaty of Westphalia was signed in the Historic Hall of Münster City Hall. / Photo: [link]Günter Seggebäing[/link], CC BY-SA 3.0
On October 1, 2026, the Economic Society for Westphalia and Lippe (WWL) will present NATO with the International Westphalian Peace Prize, which has been awarded since 1998 in commemoration of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. [1] Secretary General Mark Rutte will accept the award on behalf of NATO, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will deliver the laudatory speech.
The Peace of Westphalia (Latin: Pax Westfalica) was signed by European rulers in Münster and Osnabrück on October 24, 1648, after thirty years of war. [2]
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Since 1998, prominent figures and politicians have been honored with this prestigious prize for their commitment to peace and reconciliation. And now NATO. A military alliance as a peacemaker? Really?
Numerous organizations from the peace movement have since spoken out critically against the nomination. According to the Peace Forum Münster, the awardee, NATO, contradicts the spirit and tradition of the Peace of Westphalia.
Demonstrations are planned for Thursday. The Catholic peace movement Pax Christi is using irony to express its opposition: “We congratulate the world’s largest peace movement,” it writes, “with 3.5 million combat-ready members and a budget of 1.5 trillion dollars.”[3]
The award jury defended its decision. “We are honoring NATO because credible security is an essential prerequisite for peace.” According to the chair of the eleven-member jury—which includes, in addition to the German Federal President and Federal Chancellor, other well-known figures—deterrence and peace are not opposites.
Agreed, but is deterrence really a contribution to peace worthy of a peace prize? Or is true peace not rather a matter of disarming, as Pope Francis expressed during his visit to Hiroshima on November 24, 2019?[4]
“The Peace of Westphalia,” write peace groups in Münster, “historically stands for overcoming violence through negotiation, for reconciliation rather than escalation, and for the primacy of civilian solutions. It marks the beginning of an order in which peace is not enforced militarily but shaped politically.” Herbert Prantl comments in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on the fact that NATO, of all organizations, is receiving this prize: “That’s roughly the same as awarding the Butchers’ Guild the Grand Vegetarian Prize.”[5]
In protest against NATO’s nomination, the Alternative Westphalian Peace Prize was awarded for the first time as early as September 2026. The award is presented by the nonprofit association Alternative Westphalian Peace Prize – Association for the Recognition and Promotion of Peace Policy Initiatives e. V.
The association was founded on December 15, 2025, in Münster. [6] The award ceremony took place on September 25, 2026, at the historic Münster City Hall. The recipient is the association Connection e. V. from Offenbach am Main, which advocates, among other things, for conscientious objectors and deserters. The prize is endowed with 10,000 euros and is to be awarded every two years in the future. [7]
Protest demonstrations are planned for October 1 in Münster. The protest against the awarding of the Peace Prize to NATO will begin on Thursday, October 1. The closing rally will begin at 4:15 p.m. Speakers announced include Kathrin Vogler from the DFG-VK, Wolfgang Kowallick from Pax Christi, Udo Buchholz from the Gronau Anti-Nuclear Initiative, Franz Nadler from Connection e.V., and Robert Hülsbusch from “Rethinking Security.”
While peace initiatives from both the Roman Catholic (e.g., Pax Christi) and Protestant churches[8] are speaking out critically, the near-total silence of evangelical Christians on the subject is striking.
Either the news about the scandalous award ceremony hasn’t reached them yet, or they are once again choosing to remain silent. That’s a shame.
After all, peace and reconciliation are precisely our concerns—exactly as the late Pope Francis called for: peace without weapons. NATO is out of place here, despite all the merits one might otherwise attribute to it.
Johannes Reimer, Professor Emeritus of Missiology and the author of a number of publications on the topic of peace.
1. The International Peace of Westphalia Prize, in: https://www.wirtschaftliche-gesellschaft.de/internationaler-preis-des-westfaelischen-friedens (October 1, 2026).
2. See more in: Fritz Dickmann: The Peace of Westphalia. Münster, 7th edition. Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 1998.
3. Pax Christi Nüster Congratulates , in: Pax Chrisi, September 21, 2026
4. Pax Christi Nüster Congratulates , in: Pax Chrisi, September 21, 2026
5. In: Bochum Peace Plenum, September 30, 2026, https://www.friedensplenum-bochum.de/aktuell/2026/09/30/keine-satire-friedenspreis-an-nato/.
6. https://megalodon-megalodon.squarespace.com/about.
7. https://www1.wdr.de/nrw/muenster/alternativer-westfaelischer-friedenspreis-muenster-100.html.
8. https://www.evangelische-friedensarbeit.de/epd-meldungen/aktionsbuendnis-blickt-kritisch-auf-friedenspreis-fuer-nato-buendnis
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