The conclusions left by the NATO summit

More military, more enemies and more United States.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
30 June 2022 Thursday 07:54
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The conclusions left by the NATO summit

More military, more enemies and more United States. The new Alliance that emerges from the NATO summit in Madrid envisions a much more unpredictable and confrontational world than 12 years ago, according to the agreed strategy for the next ten years. Russia goes from being considered a strategic partner to a "direct threat", China is described as a "systemic challenge" for the first time in history and Europe sees the largest troop deployment since the cold war (more than a third, Americans) .

These are some of the conclusions reached by the three-day meeting in the Spanish capital, where the Heads of State and Government of 30 countries (plus a handful of allies who have been invited) have staged a more united, strengthened and enlarged.

The first day of the summit left a last minute surprise when Turkey lifted the veto on the accession of Sweden and Finland after weeks of blockade. This has allowed the organization to formally invite both countries to join, in a historic decision by two nations with a long tradition of neutrality, and which adds 1,300 kilometers of border between the Alliance and Russia.

In exchange, Stockholm and Helsinki give in to the main demands of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, such as lifting the arms embargo against Ankara, revising its anti-terrorist legislation and signing extradition treaties with Turkey, redoubling the fight against the banned Party of the Kurdistan Workers (PKK). Sweden and Finland will sign the protocol to formally join the alliance on Tuesday, which must be ratified by all 30 allied parliaments.

Twelve years ago, NATO recognized Russia as a "strategic partner"; however, the text born in Madrid with the war in Ukraine as a backdrop to the Alliance points to this country as the "most significant and direct threat" to the security of the allies and peace and stability in the transatlantic territory. "We cannot rule out an attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the allies," the leaders continue in their new strategic concept.

And, although Ukraine is not a member of the Alliance, NATO has promised to continue sending weapons to Kyiv to fight Russian troops.

The military organization is preparing the largest deployment of troops to Europe since the cold war to, in a few months, have more than 300,000 soldiers on alert (compared to the current 40,000), ready to act under NATO command. The majority of troops will be assigned to the countries on the eastern border, from Estonia (north) to Bulgaria (south). The majority of soldiers will be trained in their countries of origin, but "ready to act in the face of any threat" -said the secretary general of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg- and be displaced wherever necessary in three days.

The United States is the biggest beneficiary of the Madrid summit. Not only has it regained leadership in the West in the hands of NATO and under the baton of its president Joe Biden, but it has also increased its military presence on the continent. As usual, the country will be the largest contributor to the deployment of troops to Europe: the 20,000 soldiers it has sent since the invasion of Ukraine will be joined by another 100,000 soldiers. But it is also that Washington will reinforce the countries of the alliance with two destroyers in Rota, the opening of a headquarters in Poland, a rotating brigade in Romania, new rotating deployments in the Baltic states and a reinforcement of air defense in Germany and Italy.

For the first time in the history of NATO, China is presented as a threat. The Indo-Pacific region will be one of the Alliance's new geostrategic routes to curb Beijing's political, economic and military ambitions, which is already considered a "systemic challenge", according to the strategic concept. To curb these ambitions, NATO and several key countries in the region, such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand (which for the first time have attended an allied summit as guests), have strengthened their geostrategic relations in Madrid.

"China is not our adversary, but we must keep our eyes open to the serious challenges it represents and we must continue to support our partners in preserving the rules-based international order, a global system based on norms and values, instead of brute force." Therefore, NATO will intensify cooperation with our Indo-Pacific partners," Stoltenberg said yesterday. This change of perspective towards the Asian giant was one of the objectives to be achieved by the United States at this summit.

While some look to the east, Spain's concerns (and Italy's support) focus on threats from the southern border. Madrid has urged its NATO allies to consider a larger role for the alliance in North Africa and the Sahel. In fact, for the first time, the Alliance has included the Sahel region as an area that "directly affects" the security of NATO and all its allies.

The Alliance has incorporated a new assumption at the request of the Government of Pedro Sánchez that consists of "preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the allies against any aggressor". "In a context of strategic competition -he states-, we will improve our global awareness to deter, defend and respond in all territories in line with our 360-degree objective", reads the strategy.