The US did not invite key allies to a meeting on NATO's future - Politico
The US is organizing a separate meeting in Poland of a group of NATO countries dedicated to the future of the Alliance, but the UK, France and the Baltic states have not received invitations. This has raised questions among European allies about the criteria for selecting participants.
Politico reports this, citing six diplomats familiar with the preparations for the meeting. The initiative is coordinated by US Deputy Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby.
The talks are planned to include Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands. These are the countries that already took part in two meetings in an informal format called the Bergen Group.
The first such meeting was held in June in Bergen, Norway. After it, Colby explained the choice of partners by saying that they quickly fulfill NATO's new defense spending commitments, have sufficient military capability scale and are ready to work on practical solutions.
According to a representative of one of the invited countries, the Bergen Group should not replace NATO's full mechanisms. It is assumed that the members of the small group will develop proposals that can then be discussed at the level of the entire Alliance.
Colby also stated that the goal of the format is not to create a separate bloc within NATO, but to accelerate the Alliance's transformation and increase European military capabilities.
At the same time, some allies do not understand the principle on which the group was formed. Among the countries left outside the format are the UK and France – two NATO nuclear powers and among Europe's largest military forces, as well as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, for which deterrence of Russia is one of the key areas of defense policy.
According to Politico, diplomats are also concerned that some of the states that did not receive invitations have already significantly increased defense spending. Representatives of these countries are trying to find out the criteria for participation and the role of the new format in NATO's future structure.
The topic of defense spending has become central for the Alliance after the Hague summit. NATO countries have agreed by 2035 to spend 5% of GDP on defense and security-related needs. Of these, at least 3.5% should go directly to core defense needs, and up to 1.5% to infrastructure, cyber defense, resilience and defense industry.
At the same time, NATO continues to emphasize the collective nature of defense planning. In July, the Alliance's Secretary General Mark Rutte said that European members and Canada are already increasing defense spending and moving from setting financial targets to purchasing specific weapons and expanding production.
The Pentagon declined to comment to Politico on the reasons why some allies were not invited to the upcoming meeting. The White House also did not provide a response to the publication.
Based on materials: Politico, NATO, News in English
