Nato has plans to massively increase the number of its forces to over 300,000 troops. It currently has 40,000 troops at its disposal.
Nato has recently announced plans to increase the number of it’s troops to 30,000 soldiers.
Russian threats to European security is the reason behind this increase, said Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. The new military blueprint would drastically upgrade the bloc’s eastern defences.
Nato currently intends to increase the number Nato battlegroups in eastern Europe to brigade level.
This increases would send a clear message of deterrence to Russia. “I am confident that Moscow and President Putin understands our collective security guarantees and the consequences of attacking a Nato ally. This increase is part of the biggest overhaul of our collective deterrence and defence since the Cold War,” he said.
What is Rapid Reaction Force?
Rapid Reaction Force is a combination of land, sea and air assets designed to be deployed quickly in case of an attack. Since 2014, the Rapid Reaction Force has increased from 13,000 troops to 40,000 troops.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Nato placed these troops on “high alert”. Its multinational battle groups are now active in a number of countries along the Russian border, including Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland. Nato may now bring more battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.
Mr. Stoltenberg will present his motion in this week’s Nato summit in Madrid. This will be held following the G-7 meeting in Germany. Members will change their stance towards Russia, they had previously described it as a “strategic partner.”
“That will not be the case in the strategic concept that we will agree in Madrid”, Mr Stoltenberg said. “I expect that allies will state clearly that Russia poses a direct threat to our security, our values and a rules based world order”
Meanwhile, US officials state that Nato may take a strong stance towards China.Both USA and UK push for a forceful stance to combat Chinese threats to Taiwan. However, France and Germany call for more restraint against Taiwan.
(Inputs,BBC)
