The United States will “strengthen their military positioning in Europe”, so that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) can “respond to threats from all directions”said US President Joe Biden on Wednesday June 29 in Madrid.
At a summit of the Military Alliance “who makes history”according to him, Joe Biden announced an increased presence of American military and capabilities in Spain, Poland, Romania, the Baltic States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.
“We are there” and “We are proving that NATO is more necessary than ever”said the American president, alongside the secretary general of the organization, Jens Stoltenberg.
Great to meet @POTUS again at our #NATOSummit, where we will take transformative decisions to keep #NATO strong & u… https://t.co/b6h6F1Wnzb
The NATO summit in Madrid demonstrates the Alliance’s aggressiveness towards Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Wednesday, calling the enlargement to Finland and Sweden “deeply destabilizing”.
More than 100,000 Americans on the mainland
Joe Biden recalled in a communicated that the United States had already deployed, this year, “20,000 additional soldiers in Europe to reinforce our lines in response to aggressive Russian initiatives”which already brings the number of Americans stationed on the continent to more than 100,000.
But he did not specify what the reinforcements announced on Wednesday would represent overall in terms of staff. The detail was only communicated by Washington for Germany (625 men or women) and Italy (65).
Joe Biden added that the United States will increase the number of its destroyers from 4 to 6 at the naval base of Rota in Spain and will establish in Poland “a permanent headquarters of the 5e US Army Corps ». It will be, specified the Pentagon, the first permanent American presence on the “eastern flank” of NATO.
“We will maintain an additional brigade” composed of a total of 5,000 people, which will be based in Romania, also said Joe Biden.
The US President also announced “additional deployments in the Baltic States”, the Pentagon specifying that this would concern artillery, aviation, anti-aircraft defense as well as the presence of elite troops. At the gates of Russia, the United States also promises “to intensify exercises with our allies” Baltics, according to a Pentagon statement.
During a short speech, Joe Biden made it clear that Washington was going “send two additional squadrons” of F-35 combat aircraft in the United Kingdom, based at Lakenheath in the west of the country and “positioning additional air defense capabilities” in Germany and Italy.
Towards a “NATO” of Europe
Russian President Vladimir Putin “wanted a ‘Finlandization’ of Europe”that is to say an evolution of the member countries of the Alliance towards the position of neutrality which has historically been that of the Nordic country, but it obtains, on the contrary, a ““Otanization” of Europe”welcomed Joe Biden.
Finland, historically non-aligned, and Sweden are indeed preparing to join NATO, after the lifting of Turkey’s veto on Tuesday evening, while the Alliance has displayed almost flawless unity from the start. of the war in Ukraine.
The Pentagon said it is spending $3.8 billion on the “Deterrence Initiative in Europe” for fiscal year 2022 and has a forecast of $4.2 billion for fiscal year 2023.
For its part, Norway announced on Wednesday the dispatch to Ukraine of three batteries of MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) long-range rocket launchers. The announcement, which was made on the sidelines of the NATO summit, is being made in conjunction with the UK, according to Oslo. “It is an example of good cooperation between allies”said Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram.
Beyond Ukraine, NATO should for the first time mention in its new roadmap, called “strategic concept”, the challenges posed by China to the “values” and to “interests” of the Alliance.