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French NATO soldiers
Photo: DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP
In view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden have already declared their desire to join NATO.
The military alliance has now officially started the admissions process.
This was announced by NATO in a statement on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid.
The heads of state and government of the 30 NATO countries also approved a new strategy paper at their summit meeting.
For the first time, Russia is a declared enemy of NATO.
In the basic document for political and military planning, Russia is described as the “greatest and most immediate threat to the security of the allies and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area”, China as a challenge.
"In the light of their hostile policies and actions, we can no longer consider the Russian Federation as a partner," the Strategic Concept continues.
With his attack on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin violated the norms of the European security order.
"We can no longer rule out an attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Allies," according to the dismal analysis in the paper.
With the new concept, the heads of state and government in Madrid want to initiate a clear change of direction in dealing with Russia.
It is intended to define the strategy for the next five to ten years.
The military plans of the alliance will be derived from the paper in the coming months.
In concrete terms, the eastern flank of the alliance is to be significantly strengthened.
The existing combat battalions, which were previously intended to serve as a sort of Alliance tripwire, are being reinforced in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The concept states that every centimeter of the alliance will be defended.
Even before the summit began, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had announced a massive increase in the deployment force.
The NATO Response Force is to be increased from the current 40,000 to 300,000 soldiers.
mrc/dpa/Reuters
