/ world today news/ NATO leaders will discuss in Warsaw new steps to strengthen the alliance’s presence on its eastern flank, as part of the West’s approach to dealing with revanchist Russia. This is what the former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen claims to the magazine “Newsweek”.
He adds that at the meeting on July 8 and 9, the permanent deployment of land, air and naval forces in the Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria should be decided. They would remain there as long as Russia maintained its aggressive stance.
“We should have no illusions about Moscow’s intentions. Behind the harassment and disintegration of the pro-Western governments bordering Russia lies a clash of ideas,” believes Rasmussen, adding that the Kremlin is using its energy resources as a weapon.
to divide the allies.
State broadcaster RT is spreading false information about the EU-US trade deal, so the Kremlin is trying to undermine a future source of prosperity, the former head of the pact claims. According to him, Russia is supporting political parties on the way to breaking up the EU. “It should come as no surprise that President Vladimir Putin is one of the few, if not the only, world leaders to welcome Brexit,” Rasmussen wrote.
Dialogue between Russia and NATO is possible, but it must be conducted exclusively from a position of strength. This was stated in an interview with CNN by the former Commander-in-Chief of NATO forces in Europe, Gen. Philip Breedlove. According to him, the talks with Russia should be built on the basis of exemplary behavior on the part of Moscow. “For this, certain changes must be made in Ukraine and in Syria,” said Breedlove, without specifying what changes were involved.
Here is the full text of Rasmussen’s Newsweek article
On Friday and Saturday, NATO leaders will gather in Warsaw to take new steps to strengthen the alliance’s capabilities and presence on its eastern flank. This is part of the West’s approach to dealing with a vindictive Russia. A successful outcome of the Warsaw meeting would help stabilize NATO allies and give the West a morale boost at a time when we are plagued by political uncertainty and constraints.
The new Western approach to Russia emerged at the Wales summit in 2014, in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the ongoing military campaign in eastern Ukraine. It foregrounded the rigidity and deterrence that replaced the dialogue and cooperation with Russia that prevailed before the events of 2014.
We should have no illusions about Moscow’s intentions. Behind the harassment and disintegration of pro-Western governments bordering Russia lies a clash of ideas. On the one hand are the rule of law, responsible bureaucracy and democratic elections, highly respected; on the other side, you have an unfettered country that can sacrifice its own citizens to preserve the ambitions of its rulers. But the clash is not just about that.
Moscow is openly seeking to undermine the liberal international order and Western unity that have served us well since the end of World War II.
We see that in Europe Russia is using its energy resources as a weapon to divide allies from each other. State broadcaster RT is spreading false information about a trade deal between the EU and the United States (TTIP), so the Kremlin is trying to undermine a future source of creativity and prosperity.
Russia is supporting political parties on the way to breaking up the European Union. It should come as no surprise that President Vladimir Putin is one of the few, if not the only, world leaders to welcome Brexit.
To protect our way of life, European allies must come to terms with the fact that strong NATO deterrence, unity and the defense of friends and principles are more important than the cost of economic sanctions against Russia or the potential reward of rapprochement with Moscow .
We must not seek to escalate the conflict fueled by the Kremlin for local needs. But we should not look for a way to instill bad behavior. I would put it this way: NATO allies should cooperate with Russia when they can, but oppose Russia when they must.
At the Warsaw meeting, the transatlantic allies must reaffirm their full support for sanctions against Russia if the terms of the Minsk II agreement are not met. Europe’s failure to uphold sanctions will weaken NATO’s military efforts to deter Russia’s bullying tactics. Economic sanctions and military deterrence are two sides of the same coin.
It is clear that Britain’s decision to leave the EU is a blow to Western unity. To mitigate the negative effects, Britain should stick to its defense spending commitment of 2% of GDP and help maintain sanctions against Russia.
At the meeting, NATO allies must decide to deploy more of NATO’s forces and capabilities to their eastern allies, including the permanent deployment of ground, air and naval forces in the Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria for as long as Russia maintains your aggressive stance.
I also believe that the alliance must continue to develop, deploy and integrate collective missile defense and improve its cyber capabilities, moving from a passive defense to a more active role and, when necessary, to an offensive one. European allies must build on their commitment to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense no later than 2024 by launching interim plans for the next five years. This will help make them more accountable and send a positive signal to the next US administration; before the end of the term of the new US president, Europe must reduce the transatlantic gap in defense funds.
The United States must continue to bear its share of the burden, however. NATO maintains stability in the world’s most prosperous region, provides a strong network of allies, and supports the US politically and militarily around the world.
The meeting in Warsaw is a timely opportunity to demonstrate that the Western world will not stand by when our friends and neighbors are harassed. A lack of resolve and unity on Russia will only strengthen Moscow’s unholy understanding that it can meddle in the affairs of its neighbors in order to preserve its self-perceived “sphere of interest.” NATO will need to show determination to -a long period of time before the approach initiated at the Wales summit has a visible effect on Russia’s behaviour, but a successful outcome of the Warsaw summit will move us one step closer to a united and free Europe.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen is a former Prime Minister of Denmark and former Secretary General of NATO
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