After renewed support for Ukraine, NATO closed the Madrid summit with a focus on the southern front and terrorism

More. This is what this NATO summit in Madrid has gathered, which started here on Wednesday 29 and ended this Thursday 30: more support for Ukraine – “and for as long as necessary” -, more allies – with the impending incorporation of Sweden and Finland will be 32-, more NATO soldiers – it will go from the current 40,000 soldiers to 300,000-, more US presence in Europe – with reinforcements in Spain, Poland, Romania, the Baltic countries, Germany, Italy and Great Britain -, more budget and even more borders to defend, with the 1,300-kilometer border between Finland and Russia.

“Putin, you will not win,” said Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, host of the summit, before formally opening it, appealing to the Russian president and his voracious invasion of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden announced here in Madrid, a new package of military aid of 800 million dollars per kyiv, and did not waste a microphone to criticize his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin: “There are many things we can do and will do, but Russia is to blame for the rise in the price of gas. Russia, Russia and Russia”He stressed.

Even the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, took advantage of the end of the summit to report that his government strengthen military support for Ukraine with another two million pounds, about 2.3 million euros, to counter the Russian attack.

twists

The strategic concept of Madridthe compass document approved on Wednesday at the summit that will guide the actions of the Atlantic Alliance for the next decade, establishes a more firm and aggressive attitude towards the threat posed by Russia, especially after the attack on Ukraine on February 24 year .

In the latest strategic concept approved by NATO in 2010, the Russian Federation was considered a “strategic partner”.

Today, however, the allies see in President Putinthe main threat to your security. And they accuse Russia of trying to establish zones of influence and direct control over the countries that surround it “through aggression, coercion and annexation”.

NATO has made no secret of its concern for the proximity between Russia and China, a country that it has defined as a “challenge” for its allies.

“China’s malicious cyber and hybrid operations, as well as its rhetoric of confrontation and disinformation, target allies and try to damage their security alliance,” says the NATO document that mentions China for the first time. emphasizing the concern your investments and projects in Africa are causing.

Terrorism and the Southern Front

In the final session on Thursday, the allies focused on terrorism and, for the first time, they also established the threats that can come from North Africa and the Sahel, as a breeding ground for terrorism and fundamentalism.

“The security of North Africa and the Sahel has a direct effect on the security of all allies and our new strategic concept has identified terrorism as a major threat to our security,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, al end of the first meeting of the last plenary.

Other issues discussed by the allies were the “exploitation of migration” as a new threat and the manipulation of energy or food resources as political weapons.

Stoltenberg said: “We have faced the global food crisis which is a direct result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

“Food prices are coming at historical prices and the allies talked about how to mitigate the crisis and get the wheat out of Ukraine (one of the main granaries in the world) by land and by sea”Commented the NATO Secretary General.

Interested in this case, President Pedro Sánchez stressed that during the summit they insisted on the “southern side as an element in which we should also focus our attention in the next years”.

“NATO defends every inch of the territorial integrity of all allies, without exception. Specific cities never appear in NATO documents ”, the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, truncated the failure to mention Ceuta and Melilla among the allies, while excluding their tacit protection.

For lunch time, the summit began to fade. His secretary general gave a press conference followed by brief appearances by the heads of state and government of NATO allies.

The most awaited was the president of the United States Joe Biden, who was the last to parade in the room where the national and international press awaited: More than 1,500 journalists followed this Madrid summit.

For Biden there was a change of lectern -one is brought from home and equipped so that the president can read his speeches- and also a previous eviction from the room because his agents had to check the security of the place.

“Before the war I told Putin that if he invaded Ukraine, he would encounter a NATO more united and stronger. This summit shows that unity, “said Biden, who, at one point, took the microphone and walked across the stage as if inside. a standing monologue.

He even allowed himself to laugh at himself when, referring to the incorporation of Sweden into the Atlantic Alliance, he got confused and mentioned Switzerland: “My God! I’m getting anxious to expand NATO,” he said wryly.

The US president commented that, during his next visit to Saudi Arabia, scheduled for next month, he will ask the Persian Gulf countries to increase oil production to the best of their ability to lower the price per barrel.

Erdogan

In turn, the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had assessed the advantages of having lifted the veto on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO.

The decision benefits Erdogan, who will receive, in return, the extradition of political leaders opens Kurdish, which Turkey considers terrorists. And the lifting of the arms embargo for their attacks in Syria is guaranteed.

“I see no concessions in the commitments we reached at this summit with Finland and Sweden “, Erdogan said Thursday at the end of the meeting which, according to him, was” one of the top more historical of NATO “.

“The Turkish opposition criticizes for criticizing”, he defended himself. Now the number of people who will be extradited has risen to 73, we will see if Sweden keeps its promises, “added Erdogan, president of Turkey since 2014 and aspires to be re-elected next year.

After noon, Madrid was loosening strict police control which kept the city tense, albeit serene, during the 48 hours that the summit lasted.

The parallel agenda organized for the wives and partners of NATO leaders, again with Queen Letizia in charge of the walks, this Thursday included a visit to the Royal Theater, in the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid and diagonally to the Royal Palace, where we witnessed a a rehearsal of Verdi’s opera Nabucco, which will be staged in the next few days.

Madrid, correspondent

ap