Meeting of NATO Defense Ministers: Russia in the sights

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Alliance Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels on October 21, 2021. REUTERS - PASCAL ROSSIGNOL

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The 30 NATO defense ministers are meeting at the Brussels headquarters of the Atlantic Alliance on Thursday and Friday.

They were waiting for explanations from the US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin because the hasty US withdrawal is, according to them, one of the reasons for the Afghan debacle.

These explanations were eagerly awaited before taking the next step: their "new strategic concept" which will be carried on the baptismal font during the NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June.

They have been looking for a new precise mission since they left Afghanistan, which had mobilized them for 20 years.

And Russia seems to be the focal point of their concerns

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With our correspondent in Brussels

,

Pierre Benazet

It was the first ministerial meeting at NATO since the evacuation of Kabul and US Minister Lloyd Austin had to appease allies critical of the US hasty decision to leave Afghanistan. According to Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, the discussion made it possible to defuse any tensions and prepare for the future, the future strategic concept of NATO.

“

Yes, sometimes there are bilateral disputes, disagreements between allies.

But NATO is still capable of uniting around its core task, of continuing to work together, of strengthening the alliance in a more competitive world.

And the challenges that we see in Asia Pacific, the rise of China, only make it even more important that Europe and North America are side by side in NATO,

 ”said Jens Stoltenberg.

And more than China, the new raison d'être of NATO, it is Russia, the ministers multiplied the declarations in favor of the deterrence, for the Black Sea and the Baltic and adopted a new master plan of defense.

The position vis-à-vis Moscow is referred to here as the “

dual approach

” and it is also based on dialogue.

But the dialogue has become very complicated since NATO expelled ten Russian diplomats accused of espionage and Russia closed its diplomatic mission in retaliation.

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