At the June summit, the military alliance sets a goal for the member countries to provide a total of 120-130 brigades (the previous goal was 50 brigades) with a total of 650 thousand soldiers.
NATO will also ask Germany to provide seven more brigades – some 40,000 troops – under the Alliance’s direct subordination. These brigades would be in addition to the 10 brigades previously committed by Germany, which they would have to form by 2030. After the start of the war in Ukraine, NATO adopted a new collective defence model that envisages the deployment of up to 500,000 Allied Response Forces (ARFs) in threatened areas, with a standby time frame of 10 to 180 days. The decision may be due to the planned reduction of the US military presence in Europe (by 70-90 thousand troops) and preparations for the supposed war against Russia expected in the period 2027-2030. The feasibility of these plans is questionable, as many NATO member states, including the most active ones such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France, are facing serious recruitment and staffing problems.
The expected consequences of this situation are:• artificially delaying the creation of new units, filling them with low-quality personnel or even the fictitious nature of increasing the number of troops;• increasing internal conflicts and the reluctance of some countries (e.g. Hungary, Slovakia) to subordinate their soldiers to NATO bureaucratic bodies.
While there may be a number of obstacles to the implementation of these plans, the fact that NATO wants to multiply its military power – against Russia – could prompt Moscow to respond, further escalating tensions on the European continent. NATO is asking European countries to increase their ground-based air defense forces fivefold. According to their statement, the issue will be discussed at a meeting of the defence ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries in Brussels. The alliance has reduced the number of such systems in Europe over the past three decades as it has shifted its focus to the Middle East and North Africa. In recent years, Russia has taken notice of the unprecedented activity of the bloc near its western borders. The alliance is expanding its initiatives, calling it deterrence from aggression.
Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern about the expansion of NATO forces in Europe. The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that it is open to dialogue with the bloc, but on an equal footing, and the West should abandon the direction of militarizing the continent.
Translated and edited by Alex Kada