“Yes to Peace, No to NATO”: Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Lisbon against the NATO Summit on 19-20 November 2010.

NATO Summit Lisbon 2010

The NATO summit was organized in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal on 19 and 20 November 2010. Apart from the representatives of the member countries the renowned leaders the US President Barak Obama, Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev and the Afghan President Hamid Karzai participated. The vital discussions about the future role of NATO were carried out by the River Tagus, about 9 KM from the capital city.

A large number of peace protesters came out on the streets of the capital city to denounce the summit. The protest was organized by over 100 set ups working for the cause of peace, the Portuguese Communist Party and other left-wing labor unions.

The view point of the protesters was that the NATO is an aggressive organization which is contrary to the principles and ethics of promoting peace. The aggression and violence can never support the cause of peace, rather violence begets violence. The history has proven this axiom. The participants of the rallies demanded strong protests against the NATO.

NATO Logo

The protests have so far been peaceful and no news of any untoward occurrence of violence was reported. The government had made a foolproof security arrangement for the occasion. This was supplemented by the vigilance and security apparatus of the protesters as well.