On democracy and NATO’s eastern flank
President Klaus Iohannis pleads for strengthening NATO's presence in the eastern flank
Corina Cristea, 10.12.2021, 13:50
At the Bucharest Forum of the Aspen Institute, the
NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, called on Allies to invest in
critical infrastructure and to reduce reliance on resources from states that
are potential adversaries.
Jens Stoltenberg nominated Russia and China as
the main global actors that undermine a world order based on rules and that
operate in areas that have become essential for the security of democracies.
Our potential adversaries are using our
vulnerabilities to advance their interests, investing in our critical infrastructure
as a way to interfere in our societies, and trying to exploit our dependencies
on essential supplies – like gas, oil and rare earth minerals, Jens
Stoltenberg pointed out.
Hementioned several times Russia’s aggressive
conduct, and at the same forum the Romanian defence minister Vasile Dîncu said Russia
should be included in NATO’s new strategic concept as a potential serious
military threat. Russia has a comprehensive plan to destabilise the Alliance,
including through a possible attack on Ukraine, Vasile Dâncu emphasized:
Vasile Dâncu: Russia should be
featured as a potential serious threat to NATO in military terms. Obviously,
dialogue must remain the main form of engagement and it must be strengthened,
but although NATO has followed this path for a decade, we can see now that this
approach has failed, at least in the medium run; perhaps only in the beginning.
At the same forum in Bucharest, the US Department
of State issued a warning and an assessment. As the deputy assistant secretary
of state for Europe, Douglas Jones, put it, Russia’s recent military build-up
and the threat of repeating aggression on Ukraine clearly indicate that Russia
is the most immediate threat to collective security. We need to maintain strong defence and deterrence against Russia and,
united, to make it clear that Russia will have to pay if it keeps this aggressive
stance.
The Russian-Ukrainian crisis was once again tackled
on Thursday by the US president Joe Biden, this time in talks with the leaders
of the Bucharest Nine countries. On this occasion, president Klaus Iohannis pleaded
for strengthening NATO’s presence in the eastern flank and for fully equipping
the Alliance to meet Russia’s challenges.
The White House leader promised NATO states in
Central Europe to earmark additional military capabilities, and reiterated the
US commitment to Article 5 in the NATO Treaty, under which an attack against one
Ally is an attack against all.
Previously, president Biden assured his Ukrainian
counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that the US unwaveringly supports Ukraine’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity. (tr. A.M. Popescu)
