Facing the growing Russian threat, NATO organises itself

NATO member states’ defence ministers gathered in Brussels last week for their final meeting ahead of the Alliance’s crucial annual summit, scheduled in The Hague on 21 and 22 June.

This meeting, aimed at approving new country-specific capability targets based on the operational plans endorsed by national leaders at the Vilnius summit in 2023, took place against a backdrop of stalled peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv and concerns that the Trump administration might be less willing to defend NATO allies than previous US administrations.

A senior NATO official told journalists that the operational plans for deterrence and defence across Europe represent a new step for the Alliance.

“The capability targets,” he explained, “have been allocated according to each country’s role in the operational plans. This is a historic step in rebuilding our collective ability to deter and defend the Alliance against all threats,” he said.

“These efforts,” he stated, “will include investments in equipment, doctrines, and personnel, as well as a sufficient pace of training and exercises so that Russia understands that threatening NATO territory would incur a cost far outweighing any potential gain.”

“Given the speed of Russian force regeneration, this must occur within the next five to ten years,” he emphasised.

(MH with AnVA – Source: Europa Press – Photo: © Unsplash)