Strengthening NATO Allies’ Armed Forces in the Face of Russian Threats and Chinese Challenges
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member summit is held almost every year, but this year’s meeting is highly likely to be recorded as the ‘start of a new Cold War’.
This is because the Western and anti-Western fronts have been ‘officialized’ with this summit held in the midst of the historical event of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that has shaken the global security landscape.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the border between East and West became clear again after 31 years.
At a summit held in Madrid, Spain on the 29th (local time), NATO declared a ‘strategic concept’, describing Russia as “the most serious and direct threat to the security of its member countries and to the peace and stability of the European Atlantic region”.
“China’s explicit ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values,” he said.
In the face of the Russian threat and the Chinese challenge, the United States has announced plans to augment NATO allies with military force to strengthen NATO’s collective security.
At the NATO summit, US President Joe Biden announced that it would deploy two additional F-35 stealth aircraft battalions to the UK and increase the number of destroyers stationed at the Rota Naval Base in Spain from four to six.
According to the US NATO force augmentation plan, the US Army 5th Corps command will be permanently stationed in Poland.
The 5th Corps is responsible for the US Army’s operations in Europe.
President Joe Biden also added that Germany and Italy would strengthen air defense systems and rotate 3,000 and 2,000 combat brigades in Romania.
There are currently 100,000 U.S. troops in Europe, about 20,000 more than before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Plans to increase defense spending by NATO allies were also discussed.
NATO allies have agreed to allocate 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defense budgets, but few countries exceed this threshold.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that 9 of the 30 member countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, exceeded the 2% target, and 19 countries plan to achieve it by 2024.
In addition, he predicted that defense spending by European allies and Canada will increase for the eighth consecutive year this year, saying that it is necessary to increase investment in defense spending in order to strengthen NATO’s collective deterrence.
He also evaluated the establishment of such a defense plan as “the first time since the Cold War.”
NATO has deployed additional troops to allies in Eastern Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
NATO plans to increase its rapid response force from its current 40,000 to 300,000.
NATO’s increase in power in Eastern Europe seems to be aimed at resolving the security concerns of the three Baltic countries: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
These countries hope to have a NATO presence to the extent that they can act as a deterrent against Russia.
After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Germany began to increase its arms.
As Russia’s military provocations sparked a new Cold War in Europe, Germany declared de facto rearmament and announced that it would play a role as a geopolitical powerhouse.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that he will set up a special federal military fund this year to invest 100 billion euros (about 135 trillion won) to modernize the German military.
The German Bundestag approved a special federal military fund worth €100 billion on the 3rd.
This funding will enable Germany to achieve its goal of spending 2% of its GDP on defense by 2024, as promised to NATO in 2014.
Neighboring countries such as Poland, the victims of World War II, do not seem to feel any objection to Germany breaking the old taboo and providing lethal weapons and heavy weapons to Ukraine and boldly increasing its military power.
It is reported that the UK is also considering increasing its defense spending.
British media reported that British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace would propose a plan to increase defense spending from 2% of GDP today to 2.5% in the future.
As the threat of war grew across Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union (EU) also stepped up its own defense capabilities.
The EU plans to create a 5,000-strong rapid response force by 2025.
According to the security documents of the European Commission, the draft plan for the creation of the European Joint Forces is to carry out a full range of military crisis management missions such as rescue, evacuation, or stabilization operations in a hostile environment by rapid response forces, including land, sea and air forces, in a hostile environment. contains
In particular, it is focusing on measures to possess independent operational capabilities such as supply of munitions, long-distance air transport, and operational control.
It is reported that the EU plans to conduct regular joint military exercises starting in 2023 if the plan to create a European army, dubbed the ‘strategic compass’ is finalized.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in the name of blocking NATO’s eastward movement, faced a headwind in which Finland and Sweden joined NATO.
Russia is poised to respond strongly to NATO’s forward deployment of NATO forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the 29th that if NATO deploys troops and military facilities in Finland and Sweden, which it has agreed to join, the same will be done.
/yunhap news
