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Keys to the NATO summit in Madrid: Russia, enlargement and terrorism

2022-06-28T10:40:02.392Z


The invasion of Ukraine will focus the meeting that the allies begin this Tuesday, but the meeting will address other challenges for transatlantic security


Russia's invasion of Ukraine has changed NATO's initial plans.

The great threats of the 21st century for the allies seemed to go in other directions: terrorism, consequences of climate change, instability in more or less nearby countries (Syria or those of the Sahel) and the migratory waves that they cause, cyber attacks... The new challenges had even provoked the debate about whether the old Alliance created in 1949 makes sense today.

But Vladimir Putin decided to attack Ukraine on February 24 and set the machine in motion backwards in time by bringing back to the Allies the reality of the challenges posed during the Cold War: Russia - decades ago the Soviet Union - was the great enemy

The return of that historical threat will consume most of the hours and attention at the Madrid summit, the second major NATO event to be held in Spain (the previous one was in 1997).

But the agenda, which will last until Thursday, will also include other challenges.

These are the hottest points that the 30 allies will deal with in the IFEMA pavilions:

1. Reinforcement of the east flank.

One could also say a brake on Russian ambitions.

"It has become the most direct and immediate threat to our security," declared the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, in some of the multiple interviews that he has given prior to the great event in Madrid.

For this, the allies are discussing increasing the deployment of troops in the eastern countries: Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania... On the table is making a leap in terms of military units, going from current battalions deployed to brigades.

This military jargon means that the current groups are made up of between 1,000 and 1,600 soldiers;

moving to the next state would mean doubling that figure.

Eastern countries even want to go further and have divisions directly, units of about 15,000 soldiers.

2. Entry of Finland and Sweden.

The accession to NATO sought by these two countries gives a very clear idea of ​​what Russia's invasion of Ukraine has meant.

Both had rejected taking this step until now, despite the fact that they had come closer and closer to the Alliance and have worked hard, especially Finland, so that its army is fully operational with those of the members of the transatlantic organization.

Its entry seemed easy at first, but Turkey is blocking it due to Sweden's traditional position towards Kurdish organizations, which Ankara considers terrorists.

If the resistance of Erdogan, the Turkish president, in Madrid, is overcome, it will be a great success, although there is much skepticism about the possibility of achieving it already this week.

3. References to the southern Mediterranean.

Until the conflict in the east broke out, the Strategic Concept, the roadmap for the next decade that the Alliance will approve in Madrid, seemed destined to give ample space to the countries of the Sahel and the instability of the area as a key element to NATO.

Spain fights so that the new situation does not make this initial objective fall into oblivion.

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4. Financing.

The reinforcement of the eastern flank already supposes more money by itself, but the question of the resources that the allies allocate to defense and organization does not end here.

Raising military spending to 2% of GDP is an objective that was already set at the Wales Summit in 2014, but from which many partners remain far away, including Spain, at 1%.

This commitment will not be discussed again, but it is likely that some president, such as Pedro Sánchez, will reissue it.

There is also the organization's own financing (the budget with which it operates), something that now costs about 2,500 million euros a year.

Significantly increasing this game is one of Stoltenberg's goals.

How many?

There are sources that speak of reaching 30,000 million a year in a decade, although it is unlikely that these levels will be reached.

5. Chinese.

The Asian giant was not even mentioned in the strategic concept still in force, which was approved in 2010 in Lisbon.

The omission will now be corrected.

It will not be described as a "threat" like Russia, but it will be a geostrategic and systemic challenge.

6. The relationship between NATO and the European Union.

Until the fall of the Berlin Wall, the roles were clear: the Alliance was in charge of the defense of Western Europe and the then European Economic Community of the economic and civil aspects.

This has changed since 1989, basically because the military organization lost its initial meaning and tried to find new challenges.

The war on the eastern border launched by Russia leads to a new review of this relationship and, probably, the frictions that were already seen during the Cold War will be seen again, with France trying to promote European autonomy.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-06-28

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