The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, stated in an interview with the Polish agency PAP that the alliance remains committed to long-term support for Ukraine and that he believes that the Swedish flag will not be the only blue and yellow flag in front of the NATO headquarters.
“Currently, the chance of an immediate military attack on any of the NATO allies, including Poland or the Baltic states, is small. Russia has its hands full in Vladimir Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine. However, we are seeing a disturbing pattern of aggressive behavior from Russia,” he said Admiral Bauer. This, he said, is why NATO must make sure it is ready for any scenario.
This is also why NATO leaders adopted an agreement at the July summit in Washington on the deployment of combat-ready forces on the eastern flank of the alliance and the strengthening of forward defense. “I’ve increased the alliance’s ability to quickly reinforce any ally that finds itself in danger,” stated Rob Bauer.
“The Russians have no idea what they are fighting for, the Ukrainians do. This war is not about any physical threat from Ukraine or NATO. It is about the most powerful weapon in the world: democracy. This is what President Putin fears most. If the people of Ukraine can have democratic rights – real democratic rights – then the people of Russia will soon want them too,” the head of the NATO Military Committee described the main reason why Putin started the war in Ukraine.
In his opinion, the essence of war is unpredictability, as can be seen especially recently. “The Kremlin has not achieved any of the strategic goals it set before February 24, 2022. Therefore, the Russians will continue to fight. And Ukraine must continue to defend itself,” emphasized Admiral Rob Bauer, adding that NATO will support Ukraine at every step. “But we will not stop there. In the long term, we are committed to the fact that the Swedish flag will not be the only blue and yellow flag in front of NATO headquarters.”
Admiral Bauer is the head of the NATO Military Committee from 2021. Before that, he served as the highest representative of the Dutch Defense Forces. During his earlier military career, he commanded various ships of the Dutch Navy and participated in naval missions in support of US and allied operations in Afghanistan, counter-piracy off the coast of Somalia, and NATO operations in the Mediterranean, which focused, among other things, on combating arms smuggling.