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Protesters in Brussels demonstrated against President Donald Trump's policies and his upcoming visit to the city for the NATO summit. (Photo: Twitter)
'Make Peace Great Again': Ahead of NATO Summit, Anti-Trump Protest Draws Thousands in Brussels
"We are against this logic where militarization takes preference against the struggle against poverty, climate protection, migrant reception."
Jul 08, 2018
Carrying signs proclaiming, "Make Peace Great Again," thousands marched through the streets of Brussels this weekend to protest this week's upcoming NATO summit and President Donald Trump's scheduled appearance at the meeting.
Some estimates placed attendance at 2,000 people, while others reported 1,400.
The "Trump Not Welcome" protest followed several demands by Trump and his administration that NATO countries increase their military spending, accusing the U.S. allies of showing a "failure to meet shared security commitments."
Speakers declared their opposition to "everything that Trump embodies" and said his aggressive stance toward NATO countries and the international community "is not leadership."
Protesters also expressed condemnation of Trump's agenda overall, as his "zero tolerance" policy and the separation of families and his withdrawals from the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal have made headlines all over the world since he took office.
"This is not about the man himself," one organizer told the Brussels Times. "It's about the policies he stands for. A world where guns are welcome, but refugees and migrants are not. A world where children are being locked up. We are calling for a different kind of society."
Representatives of Amnesty International held a banner demanding, "End Family Detention" while others held puppets depicting Trump.
Green groups including Friends of the Earth Europe also attended the demonstration, posting on Twitter, "We refuse to normalize Trump's politics."
"We are against this logic where militarization takes preference against the struggle against poverty, climate protection, migrant reception," a spokesperson for the Belgian group Ecolo J, told France 24.
The two-day NATO summit is set to begin July 11.
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Carrying signs proclaiming, "Make Peace Great Again," thousands marched through the streets of Brussels this weekend to protest this week's upcoming NATO summit and President Donald Trump's scheduled appearance at the meeting.
Some estimates placed attendance at 2,000 people, while others reported 1,400.
The "Trump Not Welcome" protest followed several demands by Trump and his administration that NATO countries increase their military spending, accusing the U.S. allies of showing a "failure to meet shared security commitments."
Speakers declared their opposition to "everything that Trump embodies" and said his aggressive stance toward NATO countries and the international community "is not leadership."
Protesters also expressed condemnation of Trump's agenda overall, as his "zero tolerance" policy and the separation of families and his withdrawals from the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal have made headlines all over the world since he took office.
"This is not about the man himself," one organizer told the Brussels Times. "It's about the policies he stands for. A world where guns are welcome, but refugees and migrants are not. A world where children are being locked up. We are calling for a different kind of society."
Representatives of Amnesty International held a banner demanding, "End Family Detention" while others held puppets depicting Trump.
Green groups including Friends of the Earth Europe also attended the demonstration, posting on Twitter, "We refuse to normalize Trump's politics."
"We are against this logic where militarization takes preference against the struggle against poverty, climate protection, migrant reception," a spokesperson for the Belgian group Ecolo J, told France 24.
The two-day NATO summit is set to begin July 11.
Carrying signs proclaiming, "Make Peace Great Again," thousands marched through the streets of Brussels this weekend to protest this week's upcoming NATO summit and President Donald Trump's scheduled appearance at the meeting.
Some estimates placed attendance at 2,000 people, while others reported 1,400.
The "Trump Not Welcome" protest followed several demands by Trump and his administration that NATO countries increase their military spending, accusing the U.S. allies of showing a "failure to meet shared security commitments."
Speakers declared their opposition to "everything that Trump embodies" and said his aggressive stance toward NATO countries and the international community "is not leadership."
Protesters also expressed condemnation of Trump's agenda overall, as his "zero tolerance" policy and the separation of families and his withdrawals from the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal have made headlines all over the world since he took office.
"This is not about the man himself," one organizer told the Brussels Times. "It's about the policies he stands for. A world where guns are welcome, but refugees and migrants are not. A world where children are being locked up. We are calling for a different kind of society."
Representatives of Amnesty International held a banner demanding, "End Family Detention" while others held puppets depicting Trump.
Green groups including Friends of the Earth Europe also attended the demonstration, posting on Twitter, "We refuse to normalize Trump's politics."
"We are against this logic where militarization takes preference against the struggle against poverty, climate protection, migrant reception," a spokesperson for the Belgian group Ecolo J, told France 24.
The two-day NATO summit is set to begin July 11.
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