A new Strategic Concept that guides NATO’s decisions in the next decade, a political declaration with the determination of the allies to transform their deterrence and defense in the face of new challenges or a comprehensive aid package for Ukraine to defend itself from the Russian invasion are some of the main decisions expected from the Alliance summit in Madrid this Wednesday and Thursday.
(Read here: NATO: countries will increase military forces in the face of the Russian threat)
Strategic Concept
It is the document in which NATO makes clear its values, objectives and tasks. Allied leaders will replace with the “Madrid Strategic Concept” the one approved in Lisbon twelve years ago, when Russia was still considered a fundamental partner and has now become the main threat to transatlantic security.
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The text will also refer for the first time to the challenges posed by China, as well as terrorism or cyber attacks. Political declaration The leaders will approve, in parallel to the Strategic Concept, a declaration with more political assessment of the current security context, unlike the Strategic Concept, designed to be in force for about ten years.
More than 300,000 troops on alert
NATO wants this summit to be transformative for its deterrence and defense against Russia, for which it wants to increase the troops on alert of the Allied Response Force from 40,000 to more than 300,000, and convert some of the eight international battalions it maintains into brigades. in Eastern European countries.
To do this, it plans to combine pre-positioned and pre-assigned military teams ready to be deployed. Comprehensive package for Ukraine The Madrid summit will also produce a comprehensive aid package for Ukraine to continue defending itself against Russian aggression.
Specifically, it will contain measures to improve its communications and provide it with anti-drone systems and fuel. In the long term, he plans to help the country replace its Soviet-era military equipment with modern systems like those used by the
NATO.
Support for Eastern and Southern Partners
NATO is also counting on giving the green light to new aid packages so that partners from the east such as Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova, but also from the south, specifically Mauritania and Tunisia, improve their security.
Associations in the Pacific The summit will be attended for the first time by the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, countries with which the Alliance wants to strengthen its association in a scenario in which the interests of China and the West collide.
Innovation and competitiveness
NATO wants to stay at the technological forefront in an increasingly competitive world, so the allies will back a €1 billion innovation fund to invest in emerging dual-use technologies.
In addition, they will agree to reduce the Alliance’s greenhouse gas emissions. Finland and Sweden, future in NATO Both Nordic countries presented their official candidacy in May to enter NATO due to the threat from Russia, leaving behind their historical neutrality in defense, and only Turkey’s veto for issues related to Kurdish terrorism has delayed the accession process.
More military spending The NATO leaders hope to renew their commitment to increasing military spending that they already adopted at the summit in Wales (United Kingdom) in 2014, so that the investment of 2% of their GDP in defense is one point starting point and not a ceiling.
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the need to keep up with new technologies has motivated the allies to assume greater budgetary commitments.
EFE
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