Hundreds gathered in The Hague on Sunday, June 22, 2025, to denounce NATO's impending summit and escalating global military expenditures. The protest unfolded amidst intensifying hostilities between Iran and Israel, hours after U.S. forces targeted three Iranian nuclear sites in a dramatic show of support for its Middle East ally. Demonstrators condemned both NATO's expansionist policies and Israel's ongoing offensive in Gaza.
Iranian expatriate Hossein Hamadani, 74, voiced the crowd's sentiment to Associated Press: "We oppose war. People seek peaceful lives... Why fund destruction?" His remarks underscored widespread frustration over resource allocation toward conflict rather than civilian welfare. A NATO official, responding anonymously to Reuters, confirmed the alliance is "closely monitoring" regional tensions following the U.S. strikes.
The NATO summit, scheduled to commence Tuesday with leaders from all 32 member states convening Wednesday, faces contentious debates over defense budgets. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressured allies to heighten military spending—accompanied by implicit threats to withdraw from the alliance. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez openly challenged proposed spending targets, labeling a pact to allocate 5% of GDP to defense as "unreasonable and counterproductive" in a letter to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. Sánchez urged "flexible terms" exempting Spain from compliance.
Trump swiftly countered Sánchez's stance, accusing Spain of chronic underfunding and demanding parity with other members. The dispute highlights ongoing friction within NATO, where nearly one-third of members still fail to meet the bloc's baseline 2% GDP defense threshold—despite increased contributions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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