By Dominic Taylor-
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg (pictured)called the formal invitation from the alliance to Sweden and Finland to join the defense bloc a “historic decision.”
“The agreement concluded last night by Turkey, Finland and Sweden, paved the way for this decision,” the secretary general said in a news conference.
He recounted how two rounds of talks were held by senior officials in Brussels under his auspices in the advance of Monday’s consequential meeting between Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Turkey agreed on Tuesday to drop its objections to their membership bids, removing a major hurdle to them joining NATO.
The expansion vote, paired with substantial new commitments bolstering NATO’s force posture in Europe, combined to make this week’s summit in Madrid one of the most productive in recent memory. The outcome is exactly what Putin was hoping to fend off when he invaded Ukraine more than four months ago.
“I said Putin’s looking for the Finlandization of Europe. He’s going to get the NATOization of Europe. And that is exactly what he didn’t want, but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe. And I think it’s necessary,” US President Joe Biden said when he arrived at the summit site in Madrid.
Biden and fellow NATO leaders assembled in the Spanish capital to unveil a significant strengthening of forces along the alliance’s eastern flank as Russia’s war in Ukraine shows no signs of slowing.
Speaking alongside Stoltenberg, Biden listed new troop movements, equipment shipments and military installations meant to demonstrate the importance of security in the face of Moscow’s aggression.
“The United States and our allies, we are going to step up — we are stepping up. We’re proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been and is as important as it ever has been,” Biden said.
He said the US would establish a permanent headquarters for the Fifth Army Corps in Poland, maintain an extra rotational brigade of 3,000 troops in Romania, enhance rotational deployments to the Baltic states, send two more F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the United Kingdom and station additional air defense and other capabilities in Germany and Italy.
“Together with our allies, we are going to make sure that NATO is ready to meet threats from all directions — across every domain, land, air and the sea,” Biden said.
The United States did not convey to Russia its plans to bolster its force posture in Europe ahead of time.
“There has been no communication with Moscow about these changes nor is there a requirement to do that,” John Kirby, the NSC coordinator for strategic communications, said after Biden announced the series of measures.
A second official told reporters the announcements did not violate any agreements between Russia and NATO, which stipulate parameters for positioning troops in Europe.
“The decision to permanently forward station the Five Corps headquarters forward command post does not, you know, is consistent with that commitment and our understanding of the NATO Russia founding act,” said Celeste Wallander, United States assistant secretary of defense for international affairs.