This past weekend, DiEM25 Netherlands took part in the NATO Counter Summit (Tegentop) in The Hague. As a co-organiser alongside The New Peace Movement, DiEM25 contributed to powerful discussions on the urgent need to shift from militarism to peace. Representatives from 14 countries – including some who travelled from as far as Australia – gathered to reframe the global conversation around security and justice.

The conference opened with a fiery address by Peter Meertens from the Belgian PVDA, who laid out nine theses challenging NATO’s grip on Europe’s political direction. He was followed by Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, co-general coordinator of Progressive International and member of The Hague Group, who moved the audience with a searing account of how poverty is weaponised in the Global South – highlighting the punishment faced by African and other nations daring to shake off their colonial chains.

As part of the panel discussions on Saturday, during the Coalition vs Domination discussion, Lucille Cornelius, the spokesperson for DiEM25 in the Netherlands said: “We must condemn and refuse participation in such a barbaric method of negotiations and refuse the spilling of our children’s blood in the name of peacekeeping and maintaining global balance!”

She also condemned the demand that NATO has placed on Europe, coercing nations that are currently struggling economically, for instance, Spain, Portugal and Greece, to give a massive 5% of their GDP into militarism to uphold the United States‘ imperial fantasies. She stressed that it was a great travesty to be spending billions of Euros on murdering each other when this money could be used for social security, healthcare and other areas far more important than war.

Former Dutch PM Mark Rutte’s recent comparison of NATO to the Roman and Napoleonic empires was repeatedly brought up during the summit. Many laughed at that as a ridiculous notion, however, Cornelius pointed out that it is not a ridiculous comment, but rather a confession that he answers to the Empire of the 21st century, the United States.

Lucille Cornelius delivered a moving and uncompromising speech at the ‘Global Women for Peace – United Against NATO’

She also pointed out that before the fall of Apartheid, the then South African government attacked several surrounding nations and used this fact to point out that desperate regimes start attacking their neighbours when they are about to crumble. This, she said, is why we are at a global pivotal moment, in which we must keep fighting until the empire crashes and burns.

The summit also spotlighted ongoing global crises, including the genocide in Palestine, the war in Ukraine, and atrocities in Sudan and Congo. Delegates raised concern about NATO’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific via US bases, and even its growing interest in the Arctic, turning more regions into theatres of conflict.

On Sunday, DiEM25 marched at the frontlines alongside thousands of peace activists through the streets of The Hague, chanting, “Drop NATO, not BOMBS!” and “1-2-3-4, Occupation No More!” The message was clear: people across Europe and beyond are rejecting these manufactured wars – and their governments’ complicity in them.

The weekend ended with a conference, hosted by GWUAN (Global Women United Against NATO) held in Cafe Utopia in The Hague, where women from every continent, both online and in person, spoke about how NATO has affected their various regions and how important it is to stop militarisation in the hopes of peace for the planet.

Unusual themes in war discussions, such as radical love, art and poetry, as well as global solidarity, were poignantly presented by the passionate activists. Ann Wright from CODE PINK was also present and explained how she and others acquired 12 vessels to embark on the peace missions to Gaza. It is clear that the majority of humanity, which are women, are largely excluded from the conversation on how to preserve life on the planet. It is a voice that is so important as it is mostly women and children who are affected when war does break out.

The final conclusion is that if our governments do not divest from NATO and its demands and from the USA’s militarisation, we the people need to embark on a continental strike, so that our money is not used for the dismembering of children or leaving babies in incubators to die from starvation and be eaten by dogs! This is what the world will continue to look like unless the war machine grinds to a permanent halt.

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