“No To NATO”: Thousands Spaniards Protest The Warmongering Alliance On The Eve Of Key Summit In Madrid

Posted on : 26/06/2022 By
“No To NATO”: Thousands Spaniards Protest The Warmongering Alliance On The Eve Of Key Summit In Madrid
Global Economy Geopolitics Sovereign Info Network 

THOUSANDS joined in the peaceful protest in Madrid Sunday, June 26 saying no to NATO the International Network No to NATO announced on Twitter.

The protest is against a NATO summit which will take place in the Spanish capital next week.

Amid tight security, leaders of the member countries will meet in Madrid between June 29-30 as the organisation faces the unprecedented challenge of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

NATO is expected to consider the bid, opposed by alliance-member Turkey, for Finland and Sweden to join.

The protest was joined by the group Parla Obrera y Popular (P.O.P) which is an assembly movement for the defence of the public, made up of people from Madrid to defend and fight for the town.

Their Twitter post read: DEMONSTRATION NO TO NATO. JUNE 26 SUNDAY 2022. 12H ATOCHA–SPAIN PLAZA #Madrid. ‼️NO TO WARS FOR PEACE‼️ ‼️NO TO THE MILITARY BUDGET‼️ #NATOnoBasesOut.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is an International military alliance which was created to defend Western Europe against a possible Soviet invasion after World War II.

A 1948 collective-defence alliance between Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg was recognized as inadequate to deter Soviet aggression, and in 1949 the U.S. and Canada agreed to join their European allies in an enlarged alliance.

A centralized administrative structure was set up, and three major commands were established, focused on Europe, the Atlantic, and the English Channel (disbanded in 1994). The admission of West Germany to NATO in 1955 led to the Soviet Union’s creation of the opposing Warsaw Treaty Organization, or Warsaw Pact.

Thousands gather in Madrid to protest upcoming NATO summit. June 26, 2022. Screengrab of RTVE livestream. - Sputnik International, 1920, 26.06.2022
© Photo : YouTube / RTVE Noticias
Alliance leaders will gather in the Spanish capital this week to outline a new “strategic concept” containing ideas about how to counter adversaries Moscow and Beijing. On Sunday, Spanish media reported that the issues on the agenda could include significantly ramping up the size of NATO battlegroups in countries ringing Russia.

Thousands took to the streets of Madrid on Sunday to protest the upcoming NATO summit.

Carrying modern-day Spanish flags, banners of the old Spanish Republic and flags identifying a range of Leftist forces, including the Party of Labour, the Communist Party, the United Left, the social democratic Unidas Podemos and the Solidaridad Obrera union, demonstrators chanted ‘No NATO’ and ‘NATO Bases – Out’ as they marched along Paseo del Prado Boulevard.

The protesters were joined by allies from other countries, including South Koreans carrying banners reading “Disband NATO, a vehicle of imperialist war!” and “Oppose South Korea Joining NATO!”
Activists reported a heavy police presence on the scene, including checkpoints at the entrances to subway stations, and accused law enforcement of seeking to intimidate them.
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles dismissed the protesters, calling them a “clear minority” and suggesting that “peace is not in their heritage.”

Robles highlighted Madrid’s role as an intermediary in the upcoming summit to soothe disagreements between Turkey and NATO hopefuls Finland and Sweden over their hosting of the PKK, a Turkish Kurdish party and paramilitary group which Ankara characterizes as a “terrorist” group. Ankara has threatened to block the Nordic nations’ membership bids unless the “terrorist” threat is dealt with.

Last week, a US official told Sputnik that the summit will include an announcement on “new force posture commitments to strengthen NATO defense and deterrence posture,” including a new “strategic concept” to “address challenges” to bloc security supposedly coming from Russia and China. The summit is also expected to include a virtual appearance by President Zelensky to ask the West for more support.

On Sunday, an unnamed White House official told journalists that the new strategic concept is “gonna have strong China language,” and that the new document will be “a significant improvement or change from 2010 when China was not mentioned and Russia I think was called a strategic partner or something.”

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