NATO has right to deploy in eastern Europe: deputy chief

NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana addresses journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Berlin. (AFP file photo)
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  • NATO鈥檚 article 5 is the one referring to collective defense, which says that an attack on one member is an attack on all of them

VILNIUS: NATO is no longer bound by past commitments to hold back from deploying its forces in eastern Europe, the US-led alliance鈥檚 deputy secretary general said Sunday.
Moscow itself has 鈥渧oided of any content鈥� the NATO-Russia Founding Act, by attacking Ukraine and halting dialogue with the alliance, Mircea Geoana told AFP.
Under the 1997 Founding Act, intended to reset the relationship between Russia and the Alliance, both sides agreed to work to 鈥減revent any potentially threatening build-up of conventional forces in agreed regions of Europe, to include Central and Eastern Europe.鈥�
鈥淭hey took decisions, they made obligations there not to aggress neighbors, which they are doing, and to have regular consultations with NATO, which they don鈥檛,鈥� said Geoana, speaking in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
鈥淪o I think that in fact this founding act is basically not functioning because of Russia,鈥� he added.
Russia, he said, had effectively moved away from the terms of the 1997 agreement.
鈥淣ow we have no restrictions to have robust posture in the eastern flank and to ensure that every square inch of NATO鈥檚 territory is protected by Article 5 and our allies.鈥�
NATO鈥檚 article 5 is the one referring to collective defense, which says that an attack on one member is an attack on all of them.
Geoana did not give details of any such planned deployment, but said he anticipated 鈥渁 robust, flexible and sustainable presence.鈥�
In 2017, NATO had already deployed multinational tactical groups to the Baltic states and Poland as a dissuasive measure. After Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, it sent reinforcements there.
The Baltic states have called for a greater presence of its allies there, including for the development of brigades to replace the smaller tactical groups.
NATO defense ministers will meet in mid-June to discuss this and other questions, and the leaders of the NATO members states will meet to approve any changes at a NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June.