SMILE – AND MAKE PEACE!

Or: Why we urgently need a European and World Peace Congress in 2026!

By HANS HEDRICH March 26, 2026

Amid ever-escalating and widening wars in Eastern Europe and West Asia, there seems to be a kind of collective hypnosis in the face of the warmongers on all sides of these multiple fronts. And yet, when it comes to our own continent, Europe’s history is not only one of conflict, but also of peacemaking.

Looking back at our shared past, we can see that the most durable negotiations and agreements for peace and coexistence—such as those of Westphalia (1648), Vienna (1815), and Helsinki (1975), which brought major military or ideological conflicts to an end—shared a set of key characteristics:they were successive, multilateral, inclusive, legitimate, and emancipatory (the SMILE criteria). An emancipatory dimension for the nations of Europe can also be found in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.

This gives us reason for hope in 2026. The war in Ukraine, as well as other conflicts around the world, can be brought to an end by convening a peace summit on a continental scale, grounded in the SMILE criteria. This would require the participation of all states involved—directly or indirectly—in the conflict, as well as those affected by it. Exclusion from negotiations, marginalisation, coercion, or discrimination against particular states or communities must be avoided, as it is not only immoral but also a violation of international law.

A viable peace plan would therefore unfold in six stages:

–a ceasefire agreement;

— the deployment of unarmed peacekeeping forces (UN / OSCE);

–the convening of a European peace congress; referendums on state affiliation in the Russian-occupied territories;

— the inclusion of society—especially in Ukraine and Russia—in the peace process; and, finally,

–the gradual reform of international institutions.

It is now up to the bodies of the UN, the OSCE, and other regional security organisations—such as the Arab League, the African Union (AU), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), ASEAN, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), NATO, AUKUS, and others—to take urgent and concrete steps in this direction. In Europe,

The most effective path to lasting peace would be a long-overdue OSCE summit at the level of heads of state from its 57 participating countries. Building on earlier summit declarations—many of which were unfortunately only partially implemented—such a meeting could finally establish the often-invoked “common security architecture” across Europe, North America, and Central Asia.

Smile — and make peace!

Hans Hedrich is a political scientist, environmental and peace activist from Transylvania in Romania, member of the Peace Barricade – World Beyond War Chapter Romania. Contact: hanshedrich at gmail.com , Tel. +40752616128)