Activists and anti-war groups across Europe and beyond are condemning the recent statements by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and EU foreign ministers promoting increased defense spending and arms manufacturing as the path to “stability and security” in the European region.
“Rutte’s message is clear: peace will come through profits for weapons manufacturers. We absolutely reject this. For countries like Cyprus that have lived with the consequences of militarized occupations and foreign intervention, NATO’s vision of stability simply means more violence, division, and repression,” said Oz Karahan, president of the Union of Cypriots, and Vice Chairperson of the International League of Peoples Struggle (ILPS).
The statements, made during a press conference on June 12, emphasized the need for accelerated rearmament and the expansion of Europe’s military-industrial base in response to so-called “emerging threats” and geopolitical instability. The leaders described militarization as an urgent responsibility for NATO allies and EU member states.
“The EU foreign ministers kept talking about the tragedy of civilian casualties, but do they grieve the civilians killed by NATO-backed bombings in Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, or the Horn of Africa?” asked Karahan. “Their selective mourning is a cover for complicity. If they truly care for civilians, they must stop feeding the war machine.”
Activists and civil society organizations have responded with sharp criticism, denouncing what they call “a reckless escalation of war profiteering disguised as security policy.”
“The principal beneficiary of NATO’s targets is the arms industry, which has seen its revenue, profits and share prices surge. These increased targets – with all the attendant environmental consequences – are igniting a new arms race just as the climate crisis worsens. This will lead to increased emissions and absorb financial resources from already grossly inadequate climate finance. It is a political distraction that diverts attention from the biggest security crisis humanity has ever faced: climate breakdown,” said Pippa Bartolotti, from the women’s anti-war group Global Women United for Peace Against NATO (GUWAN) in a statement. “NATO is a “criminal organization” and must, in the name of the survival of every living thing on this planet, be dissolved!” they concluded.
According to recent data, Europe’s defense spending has soared 30% from 2021 to 2024 reaching €326 billion last year. On the other hand, EU member states’ spending on official development assistance (ODA) for developing countries was slashed by 88.7 billion USD in 2024 while social services, climate programs, and refugee support remain underfunded across the region.
Said groups have called for a mass mobilization in the lead up to and during the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague. They are set to organize a People’s Summit against NATO on June 21 in Amsterdam and mount a protest action on June 22 in The Hague.
“The future of our planet will not be decided in the boardrooms of weapons manufacturers or the war rooms of generals,” said Karahan. “It will be decided by the people who refuse to live in a world of permanent war.”
