30 countries have yet to confirm their membership in NATO.
NATO has no current plans to send troops to Sweden and Finland after they complete the accession process that began this week, AFP said on Tuesday Deputy Chairman of the Defense Alliance.
“We are not planning an additional presence in any of the countries, they have huge national forces. They are capable of defending themselves,” Deputy Secretary General Mircea Joane said in a phone interview.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned last week that “if military contingents and military infrastructure were stationed there, we would be obliged are obliged to respond symmetrically and pose the same threats to those territories where threats have arisen to us.”
After the accession process was launched on Tuesday, the parliaments of all 30 member states must ratify the membership of Oslo and Helsinki in Atlantic Alliance.
“We hope that the process will be completed quickly,” Joanne said, noting that “many countries have already taken” steps to ratify.
Also speaking on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “I expect that the Allies will ensure a quick and smooth ratification process“.
Joane welcomed the support of Ukraine by NATO members and allies in its defense against the Russian invasion that began on February 24.
But he acknowledged “active concern” about how long the flow of arms and ammunition can be sustained.
Read also: Stoltenberg hopes for quick ratification of Sweden and Finland's entry into NATO by all allies Joanne.
Military stockpiles in European countries are limited, many of which lack the industrial capacity to rapidly ramp up arms production over the long term.
“Everyone knew we would have strategic patience” on June's NATO summit in Madrid, he added.
But as the effects of the war are felt in energy, food and financial markets, observers warn that national leaders may face growing public opinion and financial constraints.
Moscow reacts nervously to the prospect of expanding the Alliance. But will Russia open a second front in the Baltic Sea? About this – in the article by Alina Hrytsenko “Sweden on the way to NATO: how will Russia respond?” in DT.UA.
