At NATO’s Secretariat today, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg outline the itinerary for the Vilnius Conference and stated that, it “will send a clear message that, NATO stands united, and Russia’s aggression will not pay.”
“I expect Allied leaders will agree a package with three elements, to bring Ukraine closer to NATO,” said Mr Stoltenberg. The package comprises a multi-year support system that will guarantee compatibility, improved political ties.
However, President Zelenskyy is scheduled to make an appearance at the inaugural session of the new NATO-Ukraine Council. Zelenskyy will also push the agenda of securing a NATO membership slot for Ukraine.
With that being said, the Ukrainian premier has been making diplomatic visits to some powerful and controversial NATO members, to convince them and secure assurance and approval for Kyiv’s ambitions.
Moreover, NATO has enacted three new regional security policies to combat the two primary challenges of the alliance, thus, Russia and terrorism. Partners will also take significant efforts to bolster deterrence and defense. The measures would be backed up by 300,000 troops on greater alert, as well as significant air and naval combat capabilities.
Also, allies are anticipated to support a Defense Production Strategy to “aggregate demand, boost capacity, and increase interoperability” as well as an increasingly aggressive defense spending commitment that will devote a minimum of 2% of yearly GDP to defense expenditure.
The revised NATO defense expenditures estimations were made public today, reflecting an actual uplift of 8.3% for European Partners and Canada in 2023, which the Secretary-General applauded.
“This is the biggest increase in decades, and the ninth consecutive year of increases in our defense spending. So European Allies and Canada will have invested over 450 billion extra US dollars since we agreed our defense investment pledge in 2014,” Stoltenberg averred.
Furthermore, along with the European Union, the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea would be participating in the Vilnius Conference. The Secretary General stated that, this summit will mark Helsinki’s debut as a member of NATO. On the topic on Stockholm, Jens Stoltenberg said, “We look forward to Sweden joining as soon as possible.”
The issue with the delay of Sweden’s NATO’s membership bid, has been the orchestration of Turkey, which has refused to agree to Stockholm entering the alliance. Turkey has accused Sweden of too friendly with Kurdish fighters, who planned the 2016 failed coup against Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ankara has also pointed that, Sweden’s negligence of combating hate crimes like burning of Qur’an, ultimately upsets Turkey, a Muslim dominated nation. Days ago, President of Turkey reiterated that, Stockholm has not convinced him to soften his stance on approving Sweden’s membership.
However, following a productive discussion between top diplomats from Turkey, Sweden, and Finland, NATO chief, Jens Stoltenberg is scheduled to meet with President Erdogan and Prime Minister Kristersson of Sweden in Vilnius to see to it, if a compromise would be possible.
Sweden and Finland dumped their non-alignment status to pursue for a NATO member, after Moscow invaded Kyiv in February, 2022. Finland however, has been granted its approval, but Sweden is yet to.
Since the commencement of Russia’s incursion in Ukraine, NATO and its allies has put in place series of measures to bolster the borders of member nations, most importantly countries that are closer to the borders of Russia, and also shares similar history with Ukraine.
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