On the past 8th of July, an Alternative Summit to the NATO summit took place in Warsaw, with the Party of the European Left (EL) represented by its Vice-President Maite Mola. Under the moto 'No to War - No to Militarism - Yes to Refugees', several speakers took the floor to say no to NATO and express their solidarity with peace and anti-war movements. Maite Mola made an intervention in a public event called 'Peace politics in Europe: For a Europe of peace and social justice, for a common security' and we share here her speech.

On the 5th of July Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO, proposed to cross the boundaries of NATO and to reinforce the alliance’s presence in the Eastern part of its territory, through means which they call cyber defence and maritime protection, and which imply more deployment of the alliance in Iraq and in the central Mediterranean as well as cooperate even more closely with Ukraine, Georgia, Moldavia, Libya, Afghanistan and Turkey, with the excuse of protecting Europe’s stability and fight against terrorism.

In the summit of Cardiff of 2014 the capacity of NATO was declared to intervene in any point of the globe. Consequently, the Centre of Combined Areal Operations in Torrejon de Ardoz, only few kilometres from Madrid, acquires a new dimension centred in the areal defence of the European territory and as essential centre for the conduction of areal operations in the case of any exterior intervention, a role in which the base in Torrejon could rotate with the equivalent centre of Uedem in Germany.

This converts Torrejon to an active agent in the military interventions which the NATO or some of its partners undertake, implying the Spanish state as an accomplice of the aggression and without counting on the approbation of its people. But additionally, it converts Torrejon, which is constructing an impregnable bunker in order to accommodate the teams and personnel of the CAOC, into one of the principal targets of a possible escalation which could degenerate into a nuclear confrontation.

On Spanish soil there are also two bases given to the United States for the stationing of two pieces of highly important strategic importance, on one hand the four destroyers with base in Rota which are essential elements for the anti-missile shield and with the capacity to operate all-around the Mediterranean and West Africa, and on the other hand the Crisis Response Force in Moron, (both locations are in Andalusia) which is a unit of marines with the capacity to be deployed in 9 hours with an contingent of some 3.000 combatants to the heart of Africa, Middle East or the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as to be able to be the first ones arriving to a major scale intervention.

This puts the Spanish state as accomplice into the imperialist interventions which the United States could undertake in our environment and which could flare up by a direct order of the US President without needing to pass through complicated decision processes within the NATO. Definitively, it shows the readiness of the Spanish state to intervene in campaigns of external aggression, contributing combat troops, control and shared communications with NATO or facilitating its offensive actions to the US from the bases installed in our territory.

All this will make us accomplices to these aggressions, if not principal agents and increases the risk of repressions on our territory with catastrophic consequences in the case of a nuclear conflict, as I have already pointed out before. Furthermore, it entails a transfer of sovereignty which is absolutely incompatible with the real interests and necessities of the Spanish people which are to construct a just and more secure world.

Facing this situation, we have to say that only the resounding and decisive expression of the Spanish citizens against the presence of the US-units in Spain and the Spanish participation in NATO can make us get out of this situation.

We defend the exit of Spain from NATO and the withdrawal of its bases in Spain, all the while we work in favour of the dissolution of this military alliance and for a drastic reduction of the military budget as well as a comprehensive control of the arms sales.

As Izquierda Unida (United Left) and as EL (Party of the European Left) we are proposing the construction of another regional European project which finishes with the actual external neighbourhood policy of the EU in order to base it in peace, disarmament, cooperation and democratized international relations.

The NATO is a menace for peace, a criminal organization which acts against international law. That’s why we cannot stop to clearly state that every possibility for the development of politics of peace and solidarity demands the dissolution of NATO and the closure of all North American bases deployed worldwide.

A new focus of security is needed, based on non-violent conflict resolution, which takes up development and security as something strongly related as well as a strong anti-militaristic character which proposes an alternative way to approach international conflicts based on non-violence.

If we want security we need international justice and cancel the interference and exploitation of the resources of some countries for the benefit of others, because the plunder of the peoples and the wars in order to guarantee it are the main causes of the drama of migration and asylum. The best defence is based on the construction of justice, in the prevention of conflicts, in cooperation, in humanitarian action, in intercultural knowledge and in the democratic construction.

Maite Mola