The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) celebrates 75 years of its creation and commemorates it with a two-day summit in Brussels, which began this Wednesday, April 3. During the meeting, the political-military alliance agreed to initiate a long-term aid plan for Ukraine, a country invaded by Russia for more than two years. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg proposed the creation of a 100 billion euro fund for assistance to kyiv. Specific details about the plan have not yet been revealed, but its approval will depend on negotiations between the allies, with Hungary as a detractor, while Belgium assures that it is an ambitious proposal.
From Brussels, Belgium, NATO foreign ministers agreed to work so that the political-military alliance has a more active role in coordinating assistance and security to Ukraine.
The allies are preparing for the eventual victory of Republican Donald Trump in the United States presidential elections, next November 5th.
Washington leads the organization, but the controversial former president is a strong detractor of NATO and in the middle of the campaign he has once again attacked the alliance, accusing several of its members of not paying the “fair” share in defense expenses.
This Wednesday, on the first of the two days of summit in the Belgian capital, the ministers of The member countries agreed to initiate a long-term military support plan for Ukraine.
“It is dangerous to make promises that cannot be kept.”
But also, he NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg proposes that this assistance be provided through a fund of 100 billion euros every five years. (about 107 billion dollars). Approach that generated mixed responses.
“Today allies have agreed to advance planning for NATO to play a greater role in coordinating security assistance and training,” Stoltenberg said.
The proposal comes as a new aid package, including $60 billion for kyiv, remains blocked by Republicans in the US Congress.
But the fund for kyiv, proposed by the organization's secretary general, is questioned by the Belgian Foreign Minister, Hadja Lahbib, who stated that “it is dangerous to make promises that cannot be kept.”
The official added that “it is important to keep in mind that this is not charity but an investment in our own safety.”
The allies will have to discuss the proposal in the coming days, which Stoltenberg is known to plan to have ready before the end of his term as secretary general.
Likewise, Stoltenberg would seek approval for the proposal during the annual summit of heads of state and government scheduled for this summer in Washington.
Some disagreements between the allies
The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter Szijjarto, assured that his country will not support “any NATO proposal that could bring the alliance closer to war.”
The spokesman for the Presidency of Hungary added that his Government opposes plans that end in greater delivery of weapons and military training to Ukraine and that could spark a greater conflict.
?FM Péter Szijjártó announced Hungary's opposition to increasing @BORN's coordination role in arms deliveries and training Ukrainian forces, refusing to participate in planning, operations, or funding. This stance was outlined during a press briefing at the NATO foreign… pic.twitter.com/bOhcPDYv9E
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) April 3, 2024
The Foreign Ministers of Spain and Italy affirmed that the plan must be analyzed in depthwhile the representative of Germany andxexpressed his full support for the plan.
Jens Stoltenberg defended his plan, stressing that “we must ensure reliable and predictable long-term security assistance to Ukraine, so that we depend less on voluntary contributions and more on NATO commitments.”
Stoltenberg looks to solidify his plan before the US elections
Stoltenberg will have to solidify his plan before the elections in the United States, which will take place in seven months, and in which Donald Trump, a politician strongly critical of NATO, has a chance of returning to the White House.
Currently the coordination of international military aid for kyiv is led mainly by the United States, headed by President Joe Biden, along with the Rammstein group, which includes about fifty countries.
Earlier this year, 18 of NATO's 31 members committed to contribute 2% of your GDP to the organization, a measure criticized by Trump, who points out that all members without exception should contribute that amount.
The Republican candidate added that if he is elected again as president of the United States, I would encourage the Russians to “do what they want” with NATO members that do not contribute 2% of their GDP to the Alliance.
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Finland and Ukraine sign security agreement
Alexander Stubb and Volodymyr Zelensky, presidents of Finland and Ukraine respectively, signed a security agreement this Wednesday in kyiv, in which Helsinki is committed to maintaining its political and military support for the next ten years.
So Finland becomes the eighth country to offer bilateral security guarantees to Ukraine as part of the agreements reached at the organization's summit last summer in Vilnius.
“Finland will continue to provide long-term military, political and financial support as well as humanitarian aid and rescue assistance to Ukraine for as long as necessary, with the same dynamics as since the start of the large-scale war of aggression,” the statement reads. a statement.
Meanwhile, Ukraine committed to implement governance, accountability and anti-corruption reforms, measures that have been demanded of it in its request to be a member of the European Union and NATO.
The leaders also announced the delivery of a new military aid package to Ukraine for 188 million euros, the 23rd package since the start of the war, which It would add about 2,000 million euros from February 2022as noted by the Presidency of Finland.
75 years of NATO history
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization celebrates 75 years since its creation on Thursday, April 4, at a time when the war tension due to Moscow's ongoing invasion of its neighboring country has strengthened and expanded the scope of the international military alliance.
On April 4, 1949, 12 countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington as a way to defend their nations against any military threat, shortly after ending World War II.
An organization that rules that, if any of its members are attacked by an external country, all states in the alliance will respond militarily together.
And although NATO has had various missions throughout its history, such as the raid on the Bosnian war in 1994, anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan after 9/11, the protection of pirates in Somalia in 2008, operations in Libya in 2011, among many others, Its greatest coordination and deployment occurred with the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On February 24, 2022, after Russia began what it calls its “special military operation against Ukraine,” NATO invoked Article 4, which is activated when one of the members is threatened to have a “deterrent” role. although without intervention, since kyiv does not belong to the military alliance.
However, the measure allowed NATO allies to give all their economic and military support for the defense of Ukrainian territory, in addition to increasing NATO's border with Russia, with some 1,340 kilometers after the recent additions of Finland. and Sweden.
NATO has played an unwavering role in supporting Ukrainian defense and its maintenance could largely depend on the new tenant of the White House.
With EFE, Reuters and local media
