THE HAGUE, June 23 (Xinhua) -- NATO has become a driver of global conflict rather than a force for peace, prioritizing military expansion at the expense of public welfare, a U.S. anti-war activist said here on Sunday during a protest ahead of the alliance's annual summit.

"The wars are multiplying, the military spending is escalating, and NATO is instructing nation after nation to take money out of education, retirement, health care, and green energy, and put it into weapons and wars," said David Swanson, executive director of the non-profit group World Beyond War, in an interview with Xinhua.

Swanson, who traveled from the United States to join the protest near the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, said NATO's presence in the city was "ironic," given what he described as the alliance's role in fueling conflicts around the globe.

"NATO should have come to The Hague because the International Criminal Court is here, and its leaders should present themselves for prosecution. But it should not be here to organize the world for more wars and more military spending," he said. "NATO can be abolished and the world (would) be safer without it."

The protest, attended by thousands, took place two days before the NATO summit, where member states are expected to push for increased defense spending. While the demonstration was billed as opposing NATO and the war in Gaza, it also drew participants holding banners reading "No Iran War," following U.S. airstrikes on three of Iran's nuclear facilities a day earlier.

Swanson said NATO's expansion since the Cold War, with 32 members currently, has only worsened global insecurity.

"NATO is expanding globally and adding partners around the world, and has become the single biggest distributor of weapons, promoter of wars, and creator of military bases around the world," he said, adding that it certainly should have disbanded when the Cold War ended.

He also criticized NATO member countries for following U.S. directives without regard for domestic public opinion or international law.

"NATO countries are servants of the U.S. government, colonies of the U.S. government, and obedient to the U.S. government," Swanson said. "They need to start listening to the people of their countries, to international law, and to the United Nations."