Biden announces a reinforcement in the US military deployment in Europe

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced this Wednesday at the NATO summit in Madrid a considerable reinforcement of the US military deployment in the face of the deterioration of the security situation on the continent caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In addition to plans to raise the number of destroyers at the Rota naval base from four to six announced Tuesday, Washington plans to open a permanent headquarters for its Fifth Army in Poland, deploy a rotating brigade numbering some 3,500 fighters to Romania, reinforce the military presence in the Baltic countries, station two additional squadrons of F-35 fighter jets in the United Kingdom and reinforce the positioning of anti-aircraft defenses in Germany and Italy.

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Follow the last hour of the NATO summit in Madrid

This is a new consistent step by the US, which since last February's invasion has already sent some 20,000 additional troops to Europe, bringing the total to around 100,000.

The reinforcement of the eastern flank and, in general, of NATO's rapid reaction capabilities is one of the central elements of a summit that faces a geopolitical change of magnitude unknown in decades.

The leaders, who began the first session this morning in the field of heads of state and government, face a host of issues at the Madrid meeting to fine-tune the position of the Atlantic alliance in a world that is advancing on a path of polarization with signs of confrontation, with the tension with Russia in the first row, and the challenge of the powerful rise of China in the second, but much deeper, flat.

The range is very wide and of great importance.

On the one hand, plans to reinforce defense capabilities are being discussed, with new deployments on the ground such as the one announced by Biden and new investments for the future, with a large increase in spending by many allies that will need to be coordinated effectively.

On the other hand, there is a reflection on the reformulation of support for Ukraine, also in view of the difficulties on the ground with the advance of Russia in the east of the country, and which should materialize with the announcement today of a new aid package.

Several allies have announced the delivery of more far-reaching aid with respect to the material provided to kyiv at the beginning of the Russian offensive;

In the background, the question of helping Ukraine in the transition from the use of Soviet-style weapons, whose stocks are depleted in the arsenals of the allies, to NATO material is agitated.

In addition, the allies must approve the new Strategic Concept that, for the first time, according to different sources, will treat Russia as a direct threat and China as a challenge to the values ​​of the alliance, along with adaptation to heterodox challenges, from cyber attacks, terrorism , destabilizations linked to climate change, make up the menu of the momentous event.

In parallel, there is the important perspective of foreign relations, from the upcoming integration of Sweden and Finland, after overcoming Turkey's veto, in what constitutes a serious strategic setback for Putin, to the significant participation in the summit as guests of several Asian democratic countries, a symptom of the growing projection of the Alliance, which was born Atlantic, towards the Pacific.

As Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pointed out, this is probably the most far-reaching transformation the alliance has undertaken since its founding.

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