NATO’s move is a response to Russia’s aggressive actions in eastern
\nEurope. To annex a part of another country is not defensive… that is an act of
\naggression, said Stoltenberg, referring to Moscow’s occupation of the
\nUkrainian peninsula of Crimea in March 2014. Moreover, the NATO official added,
\nRussia continues to send troops and equipment to help separatists in eastern
\nUkraine. This is why NATO had to constantly increase the size of its rapid
\nresponse force.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Jens Stoltenberg: First, we decided to increase further the strength and
\ncapability of the NATO Response Force, including its air, maritime and special
\noperations components. All together, the enhanced NATO Response Force will
\nconsist of up to 40,000 personnel. This represents a substantial increase from
\nthe previous level of 13,000. Second, we took measures to speed up our
\npolitical and military decision-making, while maintaining political control.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Earlier, Washington also announced that it would
\ndeploy heavy weapons to Eastern Europe. From Lithuania, at the Baltic Sea, to
\nRomania, at the Black Sea, its east-European allies will be hosting tanks,
\narmoured vehicles and artillery for 5,000 troops. NATO defence ministers also
\napproved a financial assistance package to consolidate the defence capabilities
\nof the Republic of Moldova, an ex-Soviet state with a majority
\nRomanian-speaking population. A buffer state between Romania and Ukraine,
\nMoldova is not part of NATO, but is a neutral state, according to its
\nconstitution, which makes it even more vulnerable to Russia’s new territorial
\nappetite. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On his country’s behalf, the Romanian defence
\nminister Mircea Dusa hailed the decision to provide assistance to Moldova,
\nwhich he sees as an investment in both Moldova’s and Romania’s security. Dusa
\nalso called for speeding up the opening of a NATO liaison office in Moldova.
\nMilitary experts recall that in 1992, Moscow exercised there, albeit at a
\nsmaller scale, today’s actions in Ukraine. At the time, less than a year after
\nproclaiming its independence, Moldova de facto lost control over its
\npro-Russian region of Transdniester following an armed conflict that left
\nhundreds of people dead and which only ended with the intervention of the
\nRussian troops siding with the separatists. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NATO does not seek a new arms race with Russia but it had to adjust to the new security environment, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said at a meeting of NATO defence ministers on Wednesday in Brussels<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":63326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29060,13794,32649],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-64502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-mircea-dusa","tag-nato","tag-stoltenberg"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n