World – NATO needs to keep adapting to changing threats – Luxembourg Times

British ambassador John MarshallPhoto:Chris Karaba

On 3-4 December, the UK will host the NATO Leaders Meeting, to celebrate NATOs 70th anniversary.

Luxembourgs prime minister Xavier Bettel will attend. The UK is delighted to host this special event because London hosted the organisations first HQ, in Belgrave Square. Now of course NATO has its HQ in Brussels.

Luxembourg is one of 12 founding members of NATO, and also a founding member of the European Union. But whereas the EU is on everyones lips daily here, the same cant be said of NATO.

It surprises me that you dont hear politicians, journalists, academics and other commentators in Luxembourg speak more about an organisation that can claim to be the most successful Alliance in history. The organisation established by Luxembourg, the UK and ten other countries in Washington on 4 April 1949, remains as important and relevant today.

The commitment we made in 1949 one for all, and all for one has kept us safe, and preserved our freedoms and our way of life, for 70 years. In London, leaders will not only celebrate the organisations 70th anniversary, but also take stock of how NATO has adapted to the challenges of the 21st century and set the Alliances future direction.

How has NATO adapted? In the 5 years since 2014, the year Russia invaded Crimea, and Daesh emerged in Syria, NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of collective deterrence and defence for a generation.

The relationship that we have today with Russia is not the one that any Ally wants. But in the face of Russian aggression (Crimea, Donbas); malign activity (disinformation, interference in elections); and abuse of the international rules based system (use of chemical weapons on European soil in Salisbury; development and fielding of a new missile system in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty), NATO must continue to adapt its deterrence and defence.

Since the Wales Summit in 2014, NATO has deployed new battlegroups to the Baltics and Poland and increased air policing across Europe. The UK has led the battlegroup in Estonia, while Luxembourg has contributed to the German-led battlegroup in Lithuania.

We have tripled the size of the NATO Response Force (NRF), a technologically advanced multinational force that the Alliance can deploy, wherever needed. And within the NRF, NATO has created a spearhead force, known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, which is able to deploy at even shorter notice to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of NATO allies.

NATO allies have also increased the organisations contribution to the global fight against terrorism, joining the Global Coalition Against Daesh and building defence capacity in Afghanistan (where NATO has 16,000 troops), Jordan and Syria. It has also put in place 24/7 missile defence against threats from the Middle East.

Far from being brain-dead as president Macron said recently, NATO Allies have agreed new strategies for air power, maritime posture, countering hybrid attacks, cyber, for the defence of vulnerable Allies as well as a new Military Strategy. And many European Allies though not yet all are responding to the need to invest more in defence.

Eight Allies have now reached the target of investing 2% of GDP in defence agreed at the Wales Summit in 2014. Nine others plan to reach or exceed 2% by 2024.

NATO continues to be the cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic Security, keeping one billion people safe. Europe does need to take greater responsibility for the common security challenges we all face. But the idea of EU strategic autonomy advanced by some does not make sense if it means duplicating NATO or excluding the EUs closest partners.

Without the US, European Allies would need to spend 5-6% of GDP, not 2%, on defence.

NATO is the most successful Alliance in history because it has adapted to new challenges, from the Cold War to cyber threats.

Decembers Leaders Meeting in London will be an opportunity to continue this evolution to ensure NATO remains relevant to meet future threats and keep its 29 members soon to be 30 with the accession of North Macedonia safe.

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World - NATO needs to keep adapting to changing threats - Luxembourg Times