Status: 10/22/2021 2:37 p.m.
NATO wants to be prepared for threats from Russia – and that costs something. One billion euros is to flow into new technologies by June 2022. Tensions with Russia had recently increased again.
With a joint fund, the NATO members want to invest up to one billion euros in defense technologies by the middle of next year. This was announced by General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg after the conclusion of the two-day meeting of the Alliance’s defense ministers.
“The new innovation fund will ensure that the Allies do not miss out on the latest technologies and skills that will be of vital importance to our security,” said Stoltenberg. In addition to 16 other countries, Germany also wants to participate in the investments – the amount remains open.
As examples of such technology, NATO named robot systems, self-flying aircraft and hypersonic propulsion systems, which are also being developed by China and Russia.
NATO wants to be prepared for attack scenarios
The NATO defense ministers announced on Thursday that they had agreed on a joint “master plan” to serve as a deterrent to Russia. The ministers stressed that attacks by Russia cannot be assumed. Nevertheless, the alliance wants to be prepared for possible threats from the Russian side in the Baltic States and in the Black Sea region.
From Russia came sharp criticism of NATO’s “confrontational course”, as President Dmitry Peskov put it. “This alliance was not created for peace, it was conceived, designed and created for confrontation,” he criticized, emphasizing that under these conditions there was “no need for a dialogue” with NATO.
New tensions between NATO and Moscow
Relations between the Defense Alliance and the Russian government had recently deteriorated again. At the beginning of the month, NATO withdrew their accreditation from eight Russian diplomats, as they are said to have worked for the secret service as members of the Russian mission to NATO. As a result, Russia announced that it would cease the work of its own permanent mission to NATO in Brussels from November 1st.