With his war of aggression, Vladimir Putin has given NATO a new reason to exist. But while Russia is slowly crushing Ukraine, the West is discussing power and money. An indictment.
NATO should actually have whiplash, as it has been shaken so often in the past decades. During this time she often looked for a new purpose, with only moderate success. In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron described it as “brain dead,” and former US President Donald Trump even wanted to blow it up during his term in office for cost reasons. But now the course search should actually be over.
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine also hit the alliance like a bomb. Many Western societies still cannot deal with this war. For many years it was all about growing prosperity on the continent. People took peace and security for granted. Soldiers, weapons and armies were in a dingy corner.
It was a good time of peace, but because of Putin and his war that is now over. Unfortunately. It’s not just the German population that has to wake up and mentally prepare for the new threat situation. NATO has not yet woken up from its hibernation either. On the contrary: the Western giant is still viewing the war in Ukraine in its pajamas. He is still preoccupied with internal squabbling, even though there is a war raging in the middle of Europe.
NATO is a framework that needs to be filled
One thing is clear: NATO is only as strong as the sum of its parts. It is a defense policy framework that is jointly filled with content by the governments of its members. Critics, however, see NATO as a warmonger. But that is nonsense. NATO itself does not make decisions; the respective governments of its members do so together. So it depends on the current policy as NATO shapes it.
There is only one thing that must not be shaken: the obligation to provide assistance. It is the fundamental foundation on which NATO stands. Smaller states must continue to be able to rely on receiving help from the alliance in an emergency. Without this aspect, NATO would not be needed.
That’s why there is rightly great outrage when Donald Trump questions this duty of assistance. Irresponsible at a time when NATO has to deal with the Russian threat and adapt to this situation as quickly as possible. But Trump is just a symptom of a much larger problem for NATO: the defense alliance has become an instrument for some member states to achieve power-political goals.
Security in Europe is a top priority
Trump is all about money. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blocked Sweden from joining NATO in order to get fighter jets. The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is also involved in order to extort the best possible deal for Hungary. This talk of money and influence is unbearable given the current security situation in Europe.
Security in Europe. That’s what NATO has to be about. There is also no question that countries like Sweden are strengthening this very security, and it is a disgrace that the country had to beg for entry for over a year. Countries that do not understand this need have no place in an alliance. This is not the time for crude selfishness, nor is it the time for children’s political card games.
