NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says his organization is “ready for any eventuality” in the event that Russia retaliates against Finland and Sweden for joining NATO.
Key points:
- NATO has promised to increase the number of troops on its eastern flank for member countries near the Russian border
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that his country will be “forced to respond in the same way”
- Sweden and Finland will sign accession protocols next week
At a historic NATO summit in Madrid, Sweden and Finland were invited to join the security alliance after Turkey abandoned its opposition to the two countries’ admission.
After making the decision, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent one of his veiled threats to NATO, Sweden and Finland.
“They should clearly understand that they were not facing any threat before that,” he said.
“If NATO troops and infrastructure are deployed, we will be forced to respond in kind and create the same threats to the territories from which the threats to us are created.”
Stoltenberg said at a news conference on the last day of the Madrid summit that the two countries were sovereign nations that had made their own decisions to join the alliance.
“The most important thing for us is for Finland and Sweden to become members of the alliance,” he said.
“We are there to protect all allies, and of course Finland and Sweden. And we are ready for any eventuality.”
The world has changed: Biden
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to search, up and down arrows for volume. Russia’s war in Ukraine has made NATO stronger and more united, says Joe Biden.
In his final speech at the summit, U.S. President Joe Biden said the world had changed in the 12 years since NATO last drafted a mission statement; at the time, Russia was characterized as a “strategic partner” of the alliance.
“NATO is changing, too,” he said.
“At this summit, we brought together our alliances to address both the direct threats that Russia poses to Europe and the systemic challenges that China poses to a rules – based world order.
“Before the war began, I told Putin that if he invaded Ukraine, NATO would not only become stronger but more united, and we will see the world’s democracies rise up and oppose their aggression. and advocate rule-based order.
“And that’s exactly what we’re seeing today.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz used his platform to point to Putin’s assertion that NATO was acting as if it had “imperial ambitions.”
“That’s honestly pretty ridiculous,” Scholz said.
“Because, in fact, NATO is a defensive alliance.
“He does not attack other countries, nor does he intend to do so. He is not a threat to anyone in his neighborhood. In fact, it is Putin who has made imperialism the goal of his policy and the object of his policy. “.
NATO will increase investment in military infrastructure
NATO allies have agreed to increase the alliance’s joint funding budget, where members provide funds to lead the organization, its commands and its military infrastructure.
When reporters asked him about this commitment, Stoltenberg was cautious about the figures, but said it was a “significant” increase.
“We are following the decision we made in principle last year,” he said.
“We need to invest more together because in a more dangerous world, we need to strengthen what we do together in NATO.”
As part of this summit, NATO has pledged to increase the number of troops and infrastructure on what it calls its “eastern flank,” that is, member countries close to Russia.
Stoltenberg reiterated that this was part of NATO’s mission to prevent the war from heating up beyond Ukraine’s borders.
“This is NATO’s basic responsibility to make sure there are no misunderstandings in the minds of any adversary, that if they do something like what Russia did in Georgia in 2008 or Ukraine now, this will trigger the full response from the entire alliance. “
In a new escalation of rhetoric, the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, said that sanctions against his country could justify war.
“I would like to point out once again that in certain circumstances, these hostile measures can also be described as an act of international aggression,” he said.
“And even as a casus belli [justification for war]. “
The Icelandic Prime Minister praises the summit
Iceland is one of the founding members of NATO and Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir has a unique perspective on what this summit achieved.
She is the leader of her country since 2017.
His Green Left party rejects all forms of militarization and opposes Iceland’s membership in the security alliance, but as the leader of a coalition government, it respects the support of the Icelandic people for ‘NATO.
Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said many “big decisions” had been made at the summit. (ABC News: Adrian Wilson)
He told the ABC that the Madrid summit had been a success.
“I think it’s been a very important summit because we’ve actually made a lot of important decisions,” he said.
“Strengthening NATO on the eastern flank, the strategic concept, which is obviously this long-term vision, which is a very important decision to make. And then, thirdly, the accession of Finland and Sweden.”
Ms Jakobsdóttir said Sweden and Finland’s decisions to join NATO, after years of being proud of its neutrality, would further strengthen the alliance.
“For these countries, it was a big decision. It was also a difficult decision taken in the shadow of the war in Ukraine,” he said.
“But also for us in the Nordic region, it means we will have a stronger Nordic unity within the alliance.”
Finland and Sweden will sign accession protocols on Tuesday that will allow them to join.
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Posted 6 hours ago 6 hours ago, June 30, 2022 at 6:58 PM, updated 1 hour, 1 hours ago, Friday, July 1, 2022 at 12:09 AM