NATO a driver of global conflicts, protesters say

THE HAGUE — NATO has become a driver of global conflict rather than a force for peace, prioritizing military expansion at the expense of public welfare, protesters said on Sunday during multiple demonstrations ahead of the alliance's annual summit.

"The wars are multiplying, the military spending is escalating, and NATO is instructing nation after nation to take money out of education, retirement, healthcare and green energy, and put it into weapons and wars," said David Swanson, executive director of the nonprofit group World Beyond War, in an interview with Xinhua News Agency.

The two-day summit in The Hague involves an informal dinner on Tuesday and a working session on Wednesday morning. A very short summit statement has been drafted to ensure the meeting is not derailed by fights over details and wording.

NATO members agreed on Sunday to a big increase in their defense spending target — to 5 percent of gross domestic product, as demanded by US President Donald Trump. However, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared on Thursday he would not commit to the target.

NATO chief Mark Rutte has proposed to reach the target by boosting NATO's core defense spending goal from 2 to 3.5 percent of GDP and spending an extra 1.5 percent on related items like cyber security and adapting roads and bridges for military vehicles.

After diplomats agreed on a compromise text on Sunday, Sanchez swiftly proclaimed Spain would not have to meet the 5 percent target as it would only have to spend 2.1 percent of GDP to meet NATO's core military requirements.

"We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defense investment, but we are not going to do so," Sanchez said in an address on Spanish television.

Thousands of anti-war protesters have expressed their anger at NATO's military expansion and increasing defense spending. Organized by more than 20 civil society groups from over 20 countries, the demonstrators gathered on Sunday afternoon at Koekamp Park near The Hague Central Station.

"NATO says it will bring peace and security," said protester Eevee Garcia. "But it's actually hiding that it will bring more weapons, bring more war, and bring more devastation to the world."

'Housing, not tanks'

Niels Jongerius, a staff member at the Transnational Institute and one of the event's organizers, criticized NATO's vast military footprint, arguing: "NATO is already the most militarized bloc in the world. Far over half of the world's military expenditure is done by NATO and its member states.

"We want housing, not tanks. We need teachers, not bombs … They can find the money to overarm the world, but never are able to find the money to build housing for the people or pay the teachers and nurses in our society enough."

Swanson of World Beyond War, who traveled from the US to join the protest near the International Criminal Court in The Hague, said NATO's presence in the city was "ironic", given what he described as the alliance's role in fueling conflicts around the globe.

"It should not be here to organize the world for more wars and more military spending," he said. "NATO can be abolished and the world (would) be safer without it."

Swanson said NATO's expansion since the Cold War, with 32 members currently, has only worsened global insecurity.

He also criticized NATO member countries for following US directives without regard for domestic public opinion or international law.

"They need to start listening to the people of their countries, to international law, and to the United Nations," Swanson said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has canceled plans to attend the NATO summit, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

South Korea and Australia have also said their leaders would not attend the summit.

Xinhua - Agencies