For NATO, there will be a moment of truth at the summit in Vilnius this summer. According to Politico, this is where it will be decided whether members of the North Atlantic Alliance can sharply increase defense spending and put more soldiers on their eastern flank.
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With countries already worried about their own stockpiles of munitions and Ukraine in dire need of more ammunition and weapons from allies, there is a risk that not all NATO allies will keep their promises to contribute to the alliance’s new plans.
Politico notes that this spring, NATO military leaders will present updated regional defense plans and “up to 300,000 NATO troops will be required to ensure the new model works.”
A senior NATO official believes that the alliance needs significantly “more troops” than it currently has, and especially troops on “readiness”.
The publication notes that NATO will face a problem: whether the members of the bloc will want to increase the personnel of the armies, as well as increase defense spending. In 2014, NATO leaders committed to spending 2 percent of their economic output on defense over ten years. At the Vilnius summit in July, leaders will have to decide on a new goal.
“Once NATO’s military plans are in place, capitals will be asked to weigh in and ultimately provide troops, aircraft, ships and tanks. This summer will be a test for NATO, when the leaders of 30 member countries of the alliance will meet in Lithuania,” the authors of the article note.
Earlier, columnist Lily Bayer, in an article for the Politico newspaper, noted that the labor-intensive production of ammunition for Ukraine and their shortage threatens to lead to a split in NATO.
On March 8, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO countries had signed contracts with the military-industrial complex (MIC) to expand the production of ammunition.
