NATO faces resentment & fears on 75th anniversary

Anti-NATO sentiments in Italy keep growing amid fears that its aggressive posture could escalate the Ukraine conflict into a full-scale war in Europe.

Thursday 4 April marked 75 years since NATO was founded. Italy has been a NATO member since 1949, the year the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, soon after it became a Republic following World War Two.

A protest march was held in Rome in the vicinity of the highly strategic NATO command center.

• From defensive to offensive
  

  From defensive to offensive: NATO turns 75 amid resentment, fears

  Anti-NATO sentiment in Italy keeps growing as many fear that the military bloc

The Protesters said NATO is no longer needed since the USSR was dissolved, adding that the US-led military organization has profoundly changed its nature over the years.

NATO's 1999 adoption of a new strategic concept changed everything.

The new concept also included the safeguard of political and economic interests and the possibility to act in conflict management and crisis response operations, including those beyond alliance territory.

That's when NATO was turned into an offensive organization and the world's policemen.

Mario Sanguinetti, Geopolitical Analyst

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Since the end of World War II Italy has become the home of more than one hundred and twenty NATO and American bases; some are well known, while others are secretly positioned across Italian territory.

Italy is the European country with the most US and NATO military bases on its soil, followed by Germany and Great Britain.

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The largest portion of Italian territory that is under NATO military servitude is on the island of Sardinia, where for decades, locals have staged protests against the nefarious effects of military exercises, both on the territory and on the health of people and animals.

On our island, we have recorded a skyrocketing rise in the number of congenital defects in babies, and malformations in animals.

But what worries us the most in Sardinia is the correlation between NATO military exercises and a greater incidence of tumors in humans.

This is caused by chemical emissions due to military tests.

Sardinian Resident

• Italian protesters wage anti-war, anti-NATO rallies
  

  Italian protesters wage anti-war, anti-NATO rallies

  Anti-NATO protests are held in a number of Italian cities on the same day the country is marking its 77th edition of Republic Day with a military parade in Rome.

We've seen how NATO has operated in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. NATO has for years surrounded Russia with its bases, forcing Moscow to military action when it started to flirt with Ukraine.

We will never have peace with NATO functioning in this way, but only war escalation.

Francesca Perri, Doctors for Gaza

On Thursday, Italy's Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, reiterated that Rome is not going to send its troops to Ukraine, hinting at the possibility of resuming relations with Russia in the future.

• Deploying NATO troops in Ukraine could spark World War III, Italian FM warns

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