NATO will deploy four new battalions in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, on the eve of an Alliance summit, in Brussels, Wednesday, March 23.

REUTERS - GONZALO FUENTES

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The thirty allies of NATO will meet this Thursday, March 24 during an extraordinary summit which will be the first of the three summits of the Brussels day before the G7 and the EU.

The allies will talk about their reinforcement in the East and direct support for Ukraine, but they do not want to provoke an escalation of violence and end up with NATO's involvement in the conflict, which would have incalculable consequences. 

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From our correspondent in Brussels,

Pierre Bénazet

Among the decisions that the thirty allies will have to make at the summit is the rise in power of NATO troops on its eastern flank.

The Alliance has established four battalions in the Baltic States and Poland since the annexation of Crimea.

The size of these battalions has just been doubled and their number will also double with the establishment of four new battalions in the allied countries neighboring Ukraine: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.

"

We will not send allied troops to Ukraine, but we are still strengthening ourselves

," says Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General.

And these troops will constitute one of the pillars of NATO's long-term reinforcement against Russia.

This is not the only one to worry the allies who believe that China plays a troubled role.

“

China has provided political support to Russia and the allies fear that China will provide material support for the Russian invasion.

I expect the leaders to call on China to assume its responsibilities as a member of the UN Security Council, refrain from supporting Russia's war effort and join the rest of the world. to call for an immediate and peaceful end to this war

.

», underlines Jens Stoltenberg.

The allies will increase their arms supplies to Ukraine and NATO will also strengthen its nuclear, bacteriological and chemical defense postures.

► To read also: 

The war in Ukraine: a major turning point for NATO?

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