“A plan for the North, the Atlantic and the Arctic, one for the center covering the Baltic region and Central Europe and a southern plan for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea”
Three new defense plans, concerning wider areas of NATO, which aim to strengthen deterrence and defence, the Alliance is to adopt at the Vilnius Summit, as announced by the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg during the press conference he gave in Brussels.
“At the Summit we will take further significant steps to strengthen deterrence and defense with three new defense plans that address wider areas to address two key threats, Russia and terrorism” said Mr. Stoltenberg. Specifically, he explained that the plans are as follows: “A plan for the North, the Atlantic and the Arctic, one for the center covering the Baltic region and Central Europe and a southern plan for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea”.
He also added that NATO to implement these plans “raises 300,000 troops on higher alert. Including significant air and naval combat power.’
Regarding Sweden’s accession to NATO and the negotiations with Turkey, the Secretary General of the Alliance noted that the meeting between him, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson and the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, will take place on Monday afternoon. He reiterated that yesterday’s meeting between Sweden, Finland, Turkey and NATO was “constructive” and “good” and progress had been made. “I am confident that we will continue to make progress, but there are still gaps to be filled. That is why I invited President Erdogan and Prime Minister Christerson to meet in Vilnius. The three of us will meet with our experts to sit down and look at the details, the specific issues,” Jens Stoltenberg pointed out.
In relation to Ukraine, the leaders are expected to agree in a three point package. In particular, as stated by the Secretary General of NATO, “We will first agree on a multi-year assistance program to ensure full interoperability between the Ukrainian armed forces and NATO. Second, we will upgrade our political ties by establishing the NATO-Ukraine Council, and third, I expect the leaders of our allies to reaffirm that Ukraine will become a member of NATO”.
Finally, he underlined that the new figures for defense investments in 2023 “are encouraging, they are positive. This is the largest increase over decades, 8.3% increase in defense spending in Europe and Canada”.
Source :Skai
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