The United States will announce new measures to strengthen European security at the NATO summit which will take place from 28 to 30 June in Madrid, which will be attended by President Joe Biden. This was reported by a senior White House official in a press briefing on the US president’s trip to Europe for the G7 and NATO summits. Speaking of the NATO summit, the senior official stressed that “new major contributions” are also expected from the allies of the Alliance on that occasion. The source specified that the partners will announce “new commitments” in their position of strength to consolidate the alliance and stressed that Biden “was very clear” that NATO must defend “every inch” of its territory, in the context of the war in Ukraine.
The rise of China is another of NATO’s “reasons for concern”, and one of the issues that will be addressed at the summit of the Atlantic Alliance scheduled in Madrid later this month. This was stated by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking with the American site Politico. “We will deal with the rise of China – she declared – and we will analyze what the consequences can be for our security”. Although China is not seen as an “adversary”, Stoltenberg added, NATO members are aware of “heavy investments in modern military equipment, including nuclear capabilities.”
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“As we have seen in recent months, the United States has been very quick in adding additional forces to NATO and reassuring our allies, especially those on the eastern side,” the official said. And he added that Washington wants to ensure that the Atlantic Alliance has sufficient resources to meet his commitments, noting that US allies have increased their defense spending over the past seven years. “We expect this upward trajectory to continue and accelerate in the coming months and years,” he stressed. One of the big announcements at the summit will be the new Strategic Concept that will guide NATO in the coming years, “as the alliance safeguards Euro-Atlantic security in response to a wide range of threats and challenges,” the official noted. recalled that the last strategic concept was launched in 2010 (at the Lisbon Summit). In this regard, he stressed that Russia continues to be the “most serious and immediate” threat, but indicated that the new strategic line will address – in addition to the China question – also how to deal with transnational threats, including “cyber, climate, hybrid and in space “. For the first time, leaders from the Indo-Pacific region will participate in the summit, such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, all allies of the United States in their competition against Beijing.
Regarding the Turkish reluctance to welcome Finland and Sweden into the Alliance, the source explained that in recent days the US has been in contact with officials from these three countries to encourage them to move forward with a commitment that allows the process to continue. “We look forward to quickly bringing them (Sweden and Finland) into the NATO alliance and remain confident that Turkey’s concerns will be addressed and that we will be able to reach a consensus,” the source said. The official added that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should speak to NATO leaders gathered in Madrid, as well as at the G7 summit in Germany, which will precede the alliance meeting.
The president of the United States will take part in the seven working sessions. During his stay in Germany, Biden plans to hold a bilateral meeting with Chancellor Olaf Schultz, who will host the summit.