Hundreds of Italians protest against European Union, NATO

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in Italy's capital Rome to protest the policies of the European Union and the US-led NATO military alliance.

The protesters rallied in central Rome on Saturday, chanting slogans and carrying placards that read, “No euro, no EU, no NATO,” and “Never Slaves.”

Blowing whistles and waving Italian flags, the demonstrators expressed opposition to what they described as the EU’s detrimental policies.

“The EU is promoting... policies... endangering all the people within the continent, in matter of social policies, housing, jobs, education, and public health,” said a participant at the Rome rally. “Protesting here today is our way of saying no to all these policies.”

A screen grab from a video released by Ruptly shows demonstrators marching against the EU and NATO in the Italian capital of Rome, on November 11, 2017.

NATO has drastically expanded its war games in eastern European countries neighboring Russia, a move that Moscow has censured as provocative and an attempt to encircle Russia.

The Western military bloc decided last year to deploy an Enhanced Forward Presence force to the Baltic States — Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia — as well as Poland, following Crimea’s unification with Russia.

In June, the US military and its Baltic allies staged a training exercise that included B-1 and B-52 bombers and 50 naval ships. The next month, 25,000 servicemen from 17 countries participated in a NATO training exercise in the Black Sea, which was monitored by members of the Russian military.