NATO in Defensive
The spokesperson of Foreign Affairs, Wolfgang Gehrcke, member of the board of the party DIE LINKE, declares on the upcoming NATO summit conference:
"NATO equals safety" – considered the majority of the Germans until a couple of years ago. This assessment has changed dramatically. "More NATO equals less safety" realizes the majority in Germany nowadays. The military pact, dominated by the USA, approaches a crisis. The NATO is in a defensive position. This is the message sent out in the forefront of the summit conference taking place in Bukarest.
Even though US-president George Bush has redeemed the demand to send German troops to the south of Afghanistan: the pressure to raise the number of troops maintains altogether. The prolongation of the mandate will be on the agenda in the Bundestag (parliament) in October. Members of the governing coalition from the CDU and the SPD have already mentioned that 1000 more soldiers will need to be send to Hindu Kush. This will be hard to communicate to the population on the one hand and to the members of parliament on the other hand as well, where it might become tight.
The extension of the NATO by including Croatia, Albania, Macedonia, Ukraine and Georgia, as promoted by the USA, is not agreed on by the European countries, particularly concerning the three named last. Nevertheless, there will probably be a not yet defined status for these countries. The NATO would then have reached the Western frontier to Russia and of the Caucasian conflict-region. Russia will take this as an affront against its own security, which is comprehensible.
DIE LINKE rejects the NATO, which defines itself as a worldwide intervention-alliance since 1999. The admission of further members would divide Europe additionally. Next year the NATO will celebrate its 60th birthday. This would be a great occasion to hold a referendum: the population from each country had the chance to vote for or against the membership of their country in the NATO. Critics do not need to worry about the results.