2023-07-11 19:15:04
US President Joe Biden is already in Lithuania for the NATO summit. Photo: composition LR/Fabrizio Oviedo
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) holds a summit from Tuesday, July 11 to Wednesday, July 12 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The objective of the meeting of heads of state and government is to discuss various important and urgent issues for the future of the alliance, including the war in Ukraine and Russia.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was one of the first to arrive in the Lithuanian capital, where he met the president Gitan Nauseda, to prepare the summit. “We are united and we will defend the Alliance to the last inch,” said Nauseda, at a press conference with Stoltenberg.
US President Joe Biden, his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also joined and the rest of the members are expected to arrive.
What will be the key issues of this 2023 summit?
1. The incorporation of Sweden
It is probably the most decisive political discussion. Türkiye is key in the incorporation of Sweden.
Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan arrives at the summit in a similar position to the one he had at the first moment of his blockade, before the Madrid summit in 2022.
It should be noted that the situation in Sweden is complex, since it not only accuses it of harboring members of the PKK, but also of the YPG (Kurdish Popular Protection Units) militias, hardened in the war once morest ISIS in northern Syria.
Despite this, according to Spanish sources, Erdogan might take advantage of the meeting to give a go-aheadgiven that it is no longer subject to the tension and provisionality of an election.
2. Ukraine in NATO?
This topic is totally debatable, but so far they consider that it is not conceivable to incorporate Ukraine into NATO. As Joe Biden says, doing so would imply that the other members get involved in the war once morest Russia.
For his part, the Ukrainian president does expect them to be recognized and Russia once once more threatened members to accept it.
3. DDA reinforcement
The eastern allies, mainly Poland and the Baltics, ask for the reinforcement of the DDA (Deterrence and Defence of Euro Atlanic Area). “They demand that the regional Deterrence and Defense plans indicate which units are assigned and their enlistment status,” according to senior officials consulted by El Periódico.
The goal is to increase capacity and size. Capacity: that the Response Force can react in a maximum of five days. Size: from battalion to brigade.
It is necessary to emphasize that there is a logistical work in the negotiation between the allies. “It’s laborious, it’s complex, it’s expensive… And, if at least it’s for yours… but if you do it for someone else, you don’t fully control the use of resources either,” the officers concluded.
4. New command structure
In order to have a new command structure ready in July 2024, the following is presented in Lithuania: Ankara will not accept a NATO military region in its zone without the Headquarters being on its territory.
5. More infrastructure to defend yourself
Finally, following the growth of NATO, it is proposed to advance in the event of a massive deployment in the east, since “great communication routes, expanded airports, deeper ports and very long oil pipelines” are needed, detailed El Periódico.
The model is the Rotozar, the Rota-Torrejón-Zaragoza fuel pipeline, Spain’s main military artery. Without such a pipeline, feeding a large war effort in the east would mean an endless stream of tankers across Europe.
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