NATO is an aggressive military alliance. Which counts with 28 countries in Europe and North America, is an extension of U.S. military power and acts according to their interests. Its formation in 1949, shortly after the Second World War and six years before the Warsaw Pact marked the aim to diminish the influence of the socialist system in Europe both by political and military means, to stabilize the capitalist power especially in West Europe, to attack the people’s movements that were growing up rapidly.The history of NATO cannot be separated from the history of war and U.S. imperialism, and is also part of Portugal’s history, starting in the dark days of fascism.

Today, the expansion to the east is advertised as a sign of rapprochement to the West and “modernization” of the former Socialist Republics. The membership of this organization in 1999 in Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic and in 2004 of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania , Slovakia and Slovenia is almost parallel with the process of European integration.

But a serious look on the activities of NATO since its founding, and especially in recent years reveals much of its aggressive and interventionist nature. In the scenarios of war and conflict NATO plays a leading role in the militarization of international relations and is the main driving force of conflicts and interventions today as proved in the cases of war in former Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Afghanistan.

The armed wing of imperialism had always as goal to implement an offensive policy and never a defensive one. At the summit in Riga, in 2006, it was accentuated its nature as a global organization of offensive character, and at the Bucharest Summit of 2008, its expansion in the Balkans and the strategic line of future inclusion of Ukraine and Georgia as the plans of domination of the Caucasus and Black Sea, became a fact. The African and Asian continents were not forgotten in the thirsty demand for influence, and which has a wide range of agreements on a “partnership”.

During the Cold War, NATO was a military instrument of imperialism that led to a permanent threat to the people who were building socialism in their countries. With the desapearence of the USSR it emerged a “new world order,” with more room for actions of imperialism. Exploiting this situation, the NATO powers have fostered the proliferation of wars and conflicts around the planet, and have adopted concepts and principles such as preventive attacks, war against terrorism , borders changes, mainly promoted by US in their national and european security doctrines. But the security of imperialism and its allies is guaranteed by insecurity, danger and exploitation of countries and peoples. The focus of strengthening the U.S. military budgets and the NATO allies reveals the domination of those in the military and economic level.

The European Union has become the European pillar of NATO. Under the excuse of strengthening its “defense capability and security,” the Lisbon Treaty stressed the commitment of European countries in political and military structures of NATO. In coordination with the U.S., the EU has provided increasing support for the actions of the Alliance. Despite the rivalries between the USA and EU, both turn against the people’s social and democratic rights. For this reason the struggle against euro-federalism and for national sovereignty twinned with the struggles against NATO imperialism and imperialism in general.

The nature, objectives, methods and developments in NATO prove the character of ‘riot police’ of imperialism. After 60 years of its creation, it is more important than ever to demand the dissolution of this organization, as the guarantee of the respect of every people’s right to decide if they wish or not to be part of this Alliance. In parallel, it is essential to intensify the struggle for peace, against the expansion and creation of NATO military bases, as has been exemplified in the great campaign “Yes to Peace, No to NATO”, in the framework of the NATO summit in Portugal, next November, which involves dozens of organizations aiming to mobilize the Portuguese people in the struggle for solidarity and cooperation among peoples and the international campaign of WFDY “Against the military imperialist bases and armies of occupation, the struggle is the way to victory!”

The international situation is characterized by the possibility of rapid and unexpected developments, where great dangers to peace, freedom and sovereignty of peoples coexist with real potential for progressive and even revolutionary developments.

In a conditions characterized by an ever-deeper crisis of capitalism, deeper exploitation of workers and peoples, inter-imperialist rivalries, imperialism is using new anti-popular measures and militarist interventions trying to advantage itself and promote its’ class interests.

The workers and other sections of people subjected to imperialism oppression carry forward the struggle for building a more just and fraternal society free of all forms of exploitation, war and injustice. The denounce of the purpose and role of NATO is a task of the young people of our time, in which WFDY has been committed. The coming 17th World Festival of the Youth and Students, in South Africa in December will be a powerful expression of the anti-NATO and anti-imperialist struggle of the youth of the world. Confident, we proceed the struggle, sure that we will defeat imperialism.