As the Russian army carries on its aggression in
\nUkraine, in Brussels NATO defence ministers decided to strengthen the Alliance’s
\nlong-term posture, particularly in the eastern flank, including Romania.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The grounds for the decision were summarised by the
\nAlliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, as follows: Russia’s
\nwillingness to resort to force must not be underestimated, nor should one overlook
\nthe fact that the country has nuclear capabilities. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Still, as NATO’s deputy secretary general Mircea
\nGeoan\u0103 explained, this is not an indication of an imminent conflict with the
\nRussian Federation, but rather a deterrence move. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
NATO’s reset military positioning in the East will involve
\na substantial increase in the number of rapid response land forces with prepositioned
\nequipment and supplies, more air power, strengthened integrated air and missile
\ndefence, carrier strike groups, submarines and significant numbers of combat
\nships. Cyber defence will also be enhanced.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to Stoltenberg, Allies are united when it
\ncomes to that NATO should not deploy forces on the ground or in the airspace of
\nUkraine, to make sure that Vladimir Putin’s war doesn’t spiral into a conflict
\nbetween two nuclear blocs. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, NATO defence ministers decided to
\ncontinue providing financial, humanitarian and military assistance to Kyiv, as
\nthey have done so far, which helped make the Ukrainian resistance possible. As for
\ndiscouraging Moscow’s possible plans to have the conflict escalate beyond Ukraine,
\nNATO’s battlegroup in Romania will be fully operational shortly. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
With respect to the size or possible permanent status
\nof the new battlegroups in the East, NATO’s deputy secretary general Mircea
\nGeoan\u0103 said a final decision would be taken in a summit in June. Meanwhile, given
\nthat the entire security situation in Europe has changed, Allies were urged to
\ninvest at least 2% of GDP in defence. Romania, which has done so for several
\nyears now, has recently decided to increase the GDP share earmarked for defence
\nto 2.5%. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In short, NATO does not anticipate a Russian attack on
\nAllied territory, especially since 75% of Russia’s forces are deployed in
\nUkraine, without notable results. But, secretary general Jens Stoltenberg reiterated,
\nNATO will not tolerate any attack on Allied sovereignty or territorial
\nintegrity. The NATO official also called on Russia’s president Putin to stop
\nthe war immediately and to engage in diplomacy in good faith. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The huge disproportion between NATO and Russian forces
\nfavours the Allies, and this can be seen in Moscow as well, the participants in
\nthe extraordinary meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels agreed. (A.M.P.) <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NATO continues to strengthen its eastern flank<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":83847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29288,29621,36045,40491,13794,40472,29310,29398,28905,36582],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-91500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-brussels","tag-defence","tag-deterrence","tag-enhanced","tag-nato","tag-posture","tag-russia","tag-summit","tag-ukraine","tag-war"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n