Western powers
\nhave reported a symbolic victory, political pundits argue, by hosting the NATO
\nsummit in Poland, the very place where the former USSR had forced its satellite
\nstates to formally become its allies during the Cold War by signing the Warsaw
\nPact. Today, from Estonia to Bulgaria, former communist countries in Eastern
\nand Central Europe are part of the free world, members of the European Union
\nand the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Their concern with Moscow’s resurgence
\nis still very much alive though. The 28 NATO member states stand united on
\nRussia, which neither poses a necessary threat, nor is a strategic partner,
\nNATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Warsaw. He added that the
\nprinciples underlying NATO’s relations with Moscow are complementary: strong
\ndefence and constructive dialogue. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As part of its
\ndefensive system, NATO decided to deploy four multinational battalions to
\nPoland and the Baltic States, as well as to turn a Romanian brigade into a NATO
\nmultinational structure. The Allies have also decided to transfer control and
\ncoordination of the anti-ballistic missile facility in Deveselu, southern
\nRomania, from the United States to NATO. Romania is thus consolidating its
\nposition as a NATO member state and an important regional actor contributing to
\nsecurity and stability in an area facing multiple risks, Romanian President
\nKlaus Iohannis said after the summit. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian
\npresident also argued in favour of sustained increased NATO assistance to
\nformer Soviet countries aspiring to join the EU and NATO, such as Moldova,
\nUkraine and Georgia. Klaus Iohannis has warned that the crises in Syria, Iraq
\nand Libya, on NATO’s southern borders, are posing many challenges, and that the
\nIslamic State terrorist organisation poses a real threat to global security. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On the sidelines
\nof the Summit, NATO and the European Union have for the first time signed
\nofficial cooperation agreements in such fields as migration, hybrid threats and
\ncyber security. The so-called Warsaw Declaration, signed by all participant
\ncountries, also includes references to air and maritime security in the Black
\nSea region, a field that might see important decisions being taken at the
\nforthcoming NATO Defence meeting in October. These may help address what the
\nBucharest media has labelled as the failure of President Klaus Iohannis,
\nwhose proposal to create a NATO fleet in the Black Sea was not met with much
\nenthusiasm by neighbouring Bulgaria and Romania’s Western partners. The idea
\nitself remains topical, analysts have pointed out, given that the Crimean
\nPeninsula, which was annexed by Russia two years ago, is only a few hundred
\nkilometres away from Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The NATO Summit in Warsaw was a success for Romania, says the country’s president Klaus Iohannis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":69213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[28945,29274],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-69212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-nato-summit"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n