The newspaper quoted Freidenkerverband (Germany's Free Thinkers Association) as saying that following aggressive campaigns in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, the West is preparing a war against Russia.
"The encirclement of Russia with military bases, NATO's expansion to the east, Washington's missile defense shield and the 'Western-led' operation in Ukraine are part of this confrontation," the association stated.
The US-led bloc has been increasingly belligerent following the outbreak of the civil war in Ukraine, using it as a pretext to conduct more war-games and enhance its military presence along Russia's Western borders. Moscow's concern is that NATO's muscle flexing is damaging to European security is being left unaddressed.
"I think this is a huge mistake," the former national security advisor to Chancellor Helmut Kohl asserted referring to NATO's stance on Russia. "Only dialogue [with Moscow] can prevent confrontation," he added.
Experts with the European Leadership Network echoed similar sentiment, according to Neue Solidarität. They called on NATO to "open official channels of communication, including the NATO-Russia Council to discuss measures which could prevent incidents during maneuvers from sparking a direct conflict," the newspaper noted.
@dvdwlsh1 @bmc875 NATO is no longer merely a mutual defense organisation, it has crossed into aggressive military action. Balkans? Libya?
— Meg Hill (@Meishas_mammy) 31 августа 2015
German journalist Jürgen Todenhöfer blamed the United States for the chaos in the Middle East and Northern Africa, saying it is the result of Washington's strategy. The US campaign in the region began with the bombings of Afghanistan and it was later expanded to Iraq and Libya. The results could not have been worse, he added. Todenhöfer was the first Western reporter to be granted access to the territory controlled by the Islamic State.
