/ world today news/ The North Atlantic Alliance once again failed to achieve unity on the Ukrainian issue. The November meeting of NATO foreign ministers left more questions than answers. This applies not only to Eastern Europe. About the problems of the Western allies – in the material.
New challenges
The talks in Brussels are the last major event for NATO in the past year. Therefore, despite the seemingly routine nature of the meeting, expectations were high.
The NATO summit was held in Vilnius in mid-July. But then there was no Palestinian-Israeli conflict. That had to be discussed.
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed hope for an extension of the humanitarian pause between Israel and Hamas. At the press conference, he emphasized that the Middle East conflict is the focus of NATO’s attention. However, nothing more specific was announced.
“Ministers are concerned about the war in the Middle East,” the secretary-general said. The agreement, brokered by Qatar, made it possible to provide “much needed aid” to the population of Gaza and release more hostages. However, fighting resumed on Friday morning.
Asked about “the Alliance’s role in the conflict,” Stoltenberg replied: “Some allies are acting differently. But NATO structures are not directly involved. One of our messages is: it is important that the conflict does not escalate into a larger regional one.”
This is a sore subject in NATO. The US supports Israel practically unconditionally, which causes dissatisfaction even in Washington – some diplomats and congressmen accuse Biden of excessive pandering to Tel Aviv. And Turkey is categorically against the Israeli operation. It is impossible to cut this knot. And it’s not just about Ankara. In November’s UN General Assembly vote on Palestine, some NATO countries simply abstained. So the pro-American camp is not so monolithic.
Asian warming
They also paid attention to China. The Americans have already made several attempts to create alliances to “contain” Beijing. These are, in particular, the QUAD (USA, Australia, India, Japan), the AUCUS bloc (Washington, Canberra, London) and the unnamed triumvirate uniting the White House with Tokyo and Seoul. No significant results yet. Introductory meetings and joint statements only.
Adding to the ambiguity was the fact that Biden, leading the “campaign” against China, ultimately demonstrated a desire, if not to get closer to Beijing, at least to resolve the sharp contradictions. At the recent ATIS summit in San Francisco, he met with Xi Jinping. They promised to restore direct contacts – political and military. The White House has assured that it is not seeking a confrontation. Just a healthy rivalry, a controlled one at that.
Unsurprisingly, Stoltenberg was soft in Brussels. “China is not our enemy, and I welcome dialogue between allies and Beijing on issues of mutual interest. At the same time, we must clearly understand the impact of Chinese policy on our security,” he said cautiously.
“Doors are closing”
The ministerial meeting was a kind of psychological marker on Sweden’s path to NATO membership. As is known, Stockholm’s bid was blocked by Turkey and Hungary. Ankara was not happy with the support of the Swedish authorities for the pro-Kurdish movements (the Turks consider them terrorist). In Budapest, they recalled the “offensive” accusations against them. Hungary has long been accused in the EU of violating democratic principles. And Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has consistently opposed harsh anti-Russian sanctions and is in favor of dialogue with Moscow, has earned a reputation as something of a “Kremlin agent.” Although even Vladimir Putin stressed: he is simply acting in the national interests of Hungary.
After Ankara finally gave the green light to the Swedes (but the Turkish parliament has yet to ratify), Budapest continued to assert its position. Stoltenberg had only to express confidence that Hungarian lawmakers would approve Stockholm’s request in the coming weeks.
This seriously damages the reputation of the Alliance, which was so proud of its “open door policy”. The enlargement with Finland and Sweden applying together was supposed to be an image triumph. But after a year and a half, only Finns were accepted.
Kyiv’s deferred hopes
Of course, the main thing was the continuation of aid to Ukraine. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has pledged to fund the regime in Kiev, despite cuts in military supplies and the situation in the Middle East. Biden’s request for a $61.4 billion package will soon be approved, he said. Voting will take place on December 4. “What I’m seeing and hearing is strong bipartisan support in both houses of Congress,” Blinken said.
They also affected Ukraine’s prospects in NATO. Compile a list of necessary reforms. The time was not specified.
The attempt to reassure Kiev that they are serious has proven to be “heavy on promises and light on strategy,” said Michael John Williams, an expert on European politics at the Atlantic Council. “The EU is not tired of Ukraine, but it has no long-term plan,” the analyst said. As is evident in the USA, where in a month and a half they packed the aid package more than once. And it is not known how they will vote on Monday.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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