In solidarity with people in Ukraine whose security is threatened and protesters in Russia and around the world who have raised their voices against the ruling regimes that create wars and violence, several hundred people left messages on Zagreb’s Zrinjevac Square on Saturday.

The action "Enough with the wars, we want peace!" has been launched by the Centre for Peace Studies to share in public spaces words of encouragement, hope and resistance to war. Wars leave long-term social and economic consequences: they destroy lives, impoverish areas and people, and lead to crises around the world, so it is important to do everything possible to prevent them.

"We sympathize with the people of Ukraine and strongly condemn the use of force, aggression, all damage, all direct victims and long-term divisions and the consequences they will leave in society for a long time. Peace, human security and human life should be above all policies, and we should aim towards their preservation. Human security includes the protection of life, human rights and freedoms and the opportunity for stable socio-economic development. The escalation of violence and war in Ukraine threatens all that", warned Sandra Kasunić from the Centre for Peace Studies.

Croatia must make every effort to prevent the further escalation of violence through diplomacy and dialogue, guided by the principle of protection of human life and peaceful solutions to the conflict in Ukraine.

"At the beginning of its mandate, the Government of the Republic of Croatia itself announced that Croatia would, based on its own experience, be a country that would help to work on stopping violence and building peaceful solutions. We must not give up on that", points out Iva Zenzerović from the Centre for Peace Studies.

Many people have already left their homes, so the European Union, including Croatia, needs to provide safe and legal roads and shelter for all those seeking security.

The Centre for Peace Studies and all those who came to support the solidarity action shared the clear message: "Enough with the wars, we want peace!"