73 years of NATO are years too many – the dissolution of NATO is urgent

April 4 marks the 73rd. anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). It has been 73 years of unjustifiable existence in the light of the United Nations Charter and 73 years of activity contrary to the principles of peace and disarmament.

Today, the warmongering and aggressive nature of NATO is more than evident and is proven by the wars of aggression that it waged and continues to wage; by the sanctions it supports and promotes; by the arms expenditure it assumes (more than half of the world total); for imposing on the countries that constitute it the relocation of at least 2% of their respective GDP to the military component, a value that it intends to increase even more.

As it has always done, the CPPC reaffirms once again, and in the current situation that we are experiencing with special acuteness, the urgency of dissolving this political-military bloc, replacing it with a system of collective security based on the United Nations. It is urgent to embark on paths that effectively serve peoples, Humanity and peace, which necessarily involves a diplomatic and negotiated solution to conflicts, easing tensions instead of intensifying them.

Contrary to what we are led to believe, NATO is not the guarantor of peace and security. On the contrary, it is an instrument of war and aggression to serve the hegemonic agenda of the United States of America. An instrument that played a leading role in the current escalation of war in Eastern Europe. Successive enlargements, the deployment of forces and weapons near the borders of the Russian Federation, the holding of manoeuvres close to these borders and the “promise” to integrate Ukraine were determining factors for the current situation.

It is necessary to put an end to the aggressions and sanctions, to demands for new enlargements, to the arms race and to the continued increase in military expenditure. This is the path that led to the current escalation and it is by following an opposite path that it will be possible to build peace.

In yet another NATO anniversary, which this year coincides with a war in Europe that does not serve any of the peoples affected by it, the Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation once again appeals for Peace, recalling, two days after the anniversary of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, its article 7, which states that “Portugal advocates the abolition of imperialism, colonialism and any other forms of aggression, domination and exploitation in the relations between peoples, as well as simultaneous and controlled general disarmament, the dissolution of political-military blocs and the establishment of a collective security system, with a view to the creation of an international order that is capable of ensuring peace and justice in the relations between peoples.”

In this sense, the Portuguese Government is called to respect the Constitution, drawing up and applying policies that enforce it and that must be guided by national independence, non-interference, cooperation with the peoples; rejecting war and militarism, defending the emancipation and progress of humanity, which will only be possible in a world of Peace, a world that all peoples claim.

Source: World Peace Council