On April 4, 1949, 12 countries of the Euro-Atlantic area, led by the United States, founded a political and military organization which affirmed the principle of mutual solidarity in the face of the Soviet threat. “The Atlantic Pact, whose defensive character all the ministers present underlined, unites 12 nations with the sole aim of ensuring peace. A peace now more secure”state media at the time.
Seventy-three years later, at the end of June in Madrid, during a summit described as a turning point, the Secretary General of NATO clearly indicates where the threat comes from: “Russia is a direct threat to our security.ensures Jens Stoltenberg.
“We are going to make a fundamental change to our defense system which will be the biggest overhaul of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War.”
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General
12 years ago, NATO wanted to make Moscow a strategic partner, but the annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine changed everything. In Madrid, at the end of June, the Atlantic Alliance announced the reinforcement of its defense on the eastern flank. “We will continue to support Ukraine as much as necessary.”, assures US President Joe Biden on this occasion. Same speech on the side of Emmanuel Macron. “We will continue as long as necessary the budgetary, financial, humanitarian and military support,” said the President of the Republic.
To hear these leaders, NATO is becoming obvious again after years of wandering. Donald Trump and his threats to leave the Alliance, Turkey playing alone in northern Syria against the Kurds, “brain death” of NATO decreed by Emmanuel Macron or even the calamitous withdrawal from Afghanistan. All of this is as if forgotten, even if everything is not settled. What about China in particular, a priority strategic challenge in the eyes of Washington, which puts the two issues on the same level. “The world has changed and so has NATOassures Joe Biden. At this summit, we agreed with our allies on the direct threat Russia poses to Europe and the systemic challenges China poses to the rules-based international order.”
NATO is not an alliance against China, warns Emmanuel Macron. Nuance of appreciation, therefore. But the main message got through. Moscow denounces the imperial ambitions of the Alliance and a new iron curtain falling on Europe, each reviving the postures and vocabulary of the Cold War.