Even after the war in Ukraine, the West maintains a sizeable military force along its borders with Russia. Other troops are in a heightened state of readiness ready to be flown in. NATO’s rapid reaction force is increasing eight times.
On its own territory, NATO keeps weapons, ammunition and fuel on hand, and troops that are not stationed there regularly practice so that they already know the terrain well in the event of aggression. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said this this afternoon in a preview of a NATO summit that will take concrete decisions later this week in Madrid.
Stoltenberg also expects the battlegroups NATO currently has in the region to be further strengthened “in some of the eight countries” (up to brigade level). It is expected that this will concern Poland and the Baltic countries, where tensions (around Kaliningrad) are greatest.
“The situation is not the same everywhere,” Stoltenberg said, pointing out that NATO had previously doubled its battlegroup size from four to eight. Leaders of the 30 NATO countries will meet in Madrid from tomorrow, including their Foreign and Defense ministers. There they discuss the situation in Ukraine and the defense of their own territory now and in the longer term.
Finland and Sweden
They also talk about a new strategic concept in which Russia occupies a much more important place and China, which is increasingly armed, is called ‘a challenge’ for the first time.
Stoltenberg announced in his preview of the summit that he will make another top-level attempt tomorrow to clear up all objections to Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to the alliance. The Norwegian will then meet the leaders of these two countries plus Turkey in Madrid.
Quote
The goal is to make progress, I make no promises
“The goal is to make progress, I’m not making any promises,” said Stoltenberg, who already spoke with Turkish President Erdogan on Saturday and will speak with Swedish Prime Minister Andersson later today. The unspoken intention is to achieve a breakthrough at the summit. Turkey is currently blocking the accession of the two countries because Sweden in particular would refuse to extradite Turkish terror suspects. According to Stoltenberg, the swift accession of the two countries is important for their security, that of the rest of NATO and “for the overall transatlantic stability”.
Watch our news videos in the playlist below:
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.