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Thousands protest in Madrid against NATO summit
Thousands protested in Madrid on Sunday (26 June) against a NATO summit that will be held in Madrid this week.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to threaten the organization, the leaders of member countries will be meeting in Madrid on 29-30 June amid tight security.
NATO is expected to review the proposal, which was opposed by Turkey, to allow Finland and Sweden to join.
In the aftermath of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Nordic countries applied. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the war a "special military operation". He said that it was partly a response to NATO membership of other countries located near post-Soviet Russia since the 1990s.
Demonstrators sang, "Tanks yes but of beer with tapas," claiming that NATO's call for an increase in defense spending in Europe was a threat.
"I'm fed up with this business of killing people and arming myself with weapons. Their solution is to increase the number of arms and wars, and we pay for it. "So, no NATO, no (army), bases, let us go, and leave us alone with wars and arms," Concha Hoyos, a former resident of Madrid, stated to Reuters.
Jaled, a 29-year-old protester, said that NATO was not the answer to the conflict in Ukraine.
Although organizers claimed that 5,000 people participated in the march, authorities in Madrid estimated that there were 2,200.
In a Sunday newspaper interview, Jose Manuel Albares, Spain's Foreign Minister, stated that the summit would also address the threat from Africa's southern flank. He said Russia was a threat to Europe.
El Pais newspaper reported that the foreign ministers' dinner would be held on the 29th. It will be centered on the southern flank.
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