The Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, announces the “greatest review” of deterrence and collective defense since the Cold War
Four-way contacts continue to unblock Turkey’s veto and achieve NATO entry for Finland and Sweden as soon as possible
In less than three years, the Atlantic Alliance has gone from being “brain dead”, according to the president of France Emmanuel Macronand living its most conflictive stage under the mandate of the former president of the United States, donald trump, to be reborn from its ashes. A change caused by the “electric shock” that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has caused, which has shaken the continent’s geopolitical board like never before and has triggered the feeling of insecurity among the allies. To the point that the Madrid summitwhich brings together this June 29 and 30 to the 30 Allied Heads of State and Government, will mark a before and after with more troops on the ground, until it exceeds 300,000 troops, more available and more budget.
“The NATO summit in Madrid this week will be transformative with many important decisions & rdquor ;, announced the secretary general of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, on the eve of his move to the Spanish capital. Decisions of as much draft as the new strategic conceptthe document that the allied countries will adopt and that will set the course to follow in matters of security and defense during the next decade.
A key text that will change the language towards Moscow, will place Russia as the “most significant and direct threat” to the security of the alliance – in 2010 it was still seen as a strategic partner – and will mention “for the first time China” as one of the challenges of the future in terms of security, interests and values. Other threats such as cyber-attacks and terrorism, a particularly important concern on the southern flank due to the instability in the Sahel region, will also be covered.
What Stoltenberg has not entered into is the explicit mention of Ceuta and melilla in the new Concept. As he recalled, the Washington Treaty includes the collective defense of the territories in Europe or North America, which covers the islands above the Tropic of Cancer, such as the Canary Islands, but not the Spanish territories located on the African continent. “Having said that, you have to understand that the question of invoking article 5 and the collective defense clause is a political decision. So it has to be taken by consensus of all the allies in the Atlantic Council, ultimately based on whatever important in each specific case”, he limited himself to pointing out.
Better response to the crisis
In any case, the new reality will lead NATO to adopt profound changes in practical terms. For example, the transformation of the NATO Response Force with an increase in available troops up to over 300,000, which will allow us to increase “our reinforcement capacity in case of crisis and conflict, even with more equipment and reserves or prepositioned military supplies”, explained the Norwegian leader about a decision that seeks to “respond smoothly and quickly to any emergency” in the largest revision of collective deterrence and defense policy since the Cold War with more air defense, stronger command and control, and improved plans. The combat groups will have a brigade dimension and will carry out joint maneuvers and exercises together with the host countries.
But for this, NATO is clear that they will need more resources, something that they are in the process of achieving. According to the 2022 figures updated this Monday, defense spending has grown for the eighth consecutive year and there are now 9 allied countries that spend more than 2% of GDPthe figure they pledged to achieve at the 2014 Wales summit, to military spendingGreece, United States, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, United Kingdom, Latvia, Croatia and Slovakia– while 19 have plans to reach that percentage in 2024.
The remaining five countries, according to Stoltenberg, have concrete commitments to reach the goal beyond the date. In the case of Spain, its percentage of expenditure stands at 1.01%, which means that it follows the tail of the allied countries only ahead of the 0.58% dedicated by Luxembourg. “The 2% is increasingly considered a floor and not a ceiling,” Stoltenberg recalled.
Assistance to Ukraine
From the meeting in Madrid, to which the heads of government of South Korea, Japan, New Zealand or AustraliaA compromise on an assistance package for Ukraine is also expected to come out, with more military and financial aid – in areas such as secure communications, anti-drone systems and fuel – and support to modernize its military equipment and abandon Soviet-era equipment. .
At the meeting, as confirmed Stoltenbergwill also participate ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and on the table will be the blockade of grain in Ukrainian ports that, according to Stoltenberg, has a culprit: Russia. A country with which there are no prospects for dialogue. “A dialogue is not on the table, it does not work, simply because of Russia’s behavior. They have chosen confrontation instead of dialogue and we have to respond to that reality & rdquor ;, he pointed out.
Accession of Finland and Sweden
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What is not clear at the moment is the label with which they will attend Finland Y Sweden At the climb. Both countries decided to request their entry into NATO as a result of the war launched by Russia on Ukraine but Turkey currently maintains its veto by the policy of both countries towards kurdish militants. “Since they submitted the application we have worked hard to get them to join the Alliance as soon as possible (but) at the same time we need to take into account the concerns expressed by the allies, in this case Turkey,” Stoltenberg explained.
The Allied Secretary General held a conversation this past Saturday with the turkish president Tayyip Erdogan and this Monday he plans to meet with the swedish prime minister, Magdalena Andersonin parallel to a technical meeting between representatives of the three countries whose leaders will also meet, at the initiative of the Norwegian, this Tuesday in Madrid on the eve of the summit. “I cannot make promises but I can assure you that we are actively working to make progress because the request is historic. It will strengthen Sweden and Finland, NATO and contribute to stability in the Euro-Atlantic area & rdquor ;, he indicated.