NATO

Heads

• Mark Rutte (Netherlands) from October 1, 2024

Financing

2024

In February 2024, NATO announced that 18 out of 31 members of the organization would achieve the goal of spending 2% of GDP on defense in 2024, and this figure is likely to grow as budgets adjust.

Most members of the alliance fit into planned defense spending, awaiting the possible election of Donald Trump as president of the United States.

NATO spending has risen markedly since the alliance's outbreak of conflict in Ukraine, but it also increased significantly during Trump's first presidency in 2017-21 as he slammed his European allies for not spending enough.

In 2016, only five countries met this task. As of February 2024, Poland spends 3.9% of GDP on defense, ahead of the United States itself in this indicator - 3.5%. Other countries, such as Spain, spend just over 1%.

2023

Many NATO members spend far less than 2% of GDP preparing for war

Military budget increase by 12% to €2.03 billion

On December 13, 2023, the NATO Council announced an increase in the organization's military budget in 2024 by 12% on an annualized basis - to €2.03 billion. At the same time, the civil budget will rise by 18.2% and reach €438.1 million.

NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Joane (Mircea Geoană) stressed that the increase in funding will allow member states to more effectively solve pressing security problems. It is noted that budgets replenished from common sources strengthen NATO, ensuring the ability to make decisions at the highest levels. At the same time, the organization is said to strive to ensure security in an effective, transparent and financially responsible way.

The joint funding demonstrates the solidarity and collective will of the allies. In turbulent times, we need it more than ever, says Joane.

The NATO civilian budget provides for the allocation of funds for personnel, operational costs and program costs of the headquarters of the organization and its international staff. The military budget covers the operating costs of the headquarters of the command structure of the alliance, missions and operations around the world. The third main element of the overall funding is the so-called NATO Security Investment Program (NSIP), which covers large investments in construction, as well as the development of command and control systems. The maximum cost of the NSIP program in 2024 is €1.3 billion, which is 30% more than in 2023.

NATO's resources are composed of direct and indirect contributions from its members. NATO general funds consist of direct contributions to collective budgets and programs, which make up about 0.3% of the total defense spending of alliance members. These means allow NATO to create forces and means and ensure the functioning of the entire organization, as well as its military commands.^[1]

Venture Fund

Main article: NATO Venture Fund

On June 30, 2022, NATO leaders signed a document pledging to ensure the work of an innovation fund aimed at combining the efforts of governments, the private sector and academia to strengthen the technological superiority of the alliance. The fund should invest in private companies working on a range of dual-use technologies with great military potential. Read more here.

NATO Hammer

The NATO hammer is a smaller replica of the Viking hammer. It was transferred to the alliance by Iceland in 1963 and is considered "a visual reflection of the alliance's right to judge, punish and embody indomitable power."

This hammer is used at special meetings and special meetings of NATO - for example, according to former participants in such meetings, it was the Alliance secretaries who knocked on them after the "sentencing" of Yugoslavia and Libya. In a letter leaked on Wikileaks, one of the Western diplomats reasoned "probably once he will knock about (attack) Russia." Also, the ex-head of NATO took this hammer to meet with... by Russian journalists. The outgoing Stoltenberg in 2024 handed over this hammer "for special affairs" to the new head of NATO - Mark Rutte, who immediately used it.

2024

NATO has launched five initiatives: UAVs, virtual military training, satellites, new helicopters and ammunition compatibility

In anticipation of the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, NATO countries took care of increasing their capabilities, subject to a reduction in US assistance to the alliance. In October 2024, an agreement was reached on the development of five areas of combat capabilities of the participating countries:

• Acceleration of the supply of remotely controlled aircraft systems of a new generation similar to the NATO Ground Surveillance System (Alliance Ground Surveillance). The AGS consists of five RQ-4D UAVs and associated European Ground Control and Control Points.

• Increased interchangeability and compatibility of key artillery ammunition of alliance member countries.

• Increase the scale of virtual training of multinational groups within the framework of the project "Educational environment for distributed comprehensive training." It is planned to create a network of advanced and immersive (training in an artificially simulated environment) multinational training courses for the military.

• Development of military space technologies. Within the framework of the NORTHLINK project,,,,,,,,,,, and Hungary Germany Denmark Iceland Italy Canada Luxembourg Netherlands Norway USA Finland will create France Sweden satellite communication in. To the Arctic

In addition, the STARLIFT project of 14 countries will create a reserve of satellite vehicles (on Earth and in space) and a mechanism for providing accelerated access to their launch and operation to needy participants, as well as urgent access to data from commercial satellites.

• Replacement of old helicopters, which expire in 2025. Within the framework of the project "Rotorcraft of the Future," Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain and France should decide on the concept of new helicopters for their troops by the end of 2027 and begin to produce them by 2030.

Such initiatives reveal the problems of the alliance with the lack of modern air and space-based reconnaissance equipment, information processing centers, the amount of ammunition and their delivery facilities for European NATO countries. In addition, the priority strategic direction of the enemy in the future is likely to be the Arctic region, and not Ukraine.

At the same time, it seems that despite the possible decrease in US participation in financing the capabilities of NATO countries on the European continent (Trump's statements), this country will remain the leader of the alliance and will oppose Russia at the hands of European participants.

Germany violates treaty with Russia and opens new NATO naval headquarters in former GDR port

The headquarters (CTF Baltic), located in Rostock, was opened in October 2024 and is designed to monitor military activity Armed Forces of Russia in the Baltic Sea around the clock, as well as coordinate NATO naval operations. It will be headed by a German commander with the rank of admiral, the deputy was the Polish admiral. In addition Germany Poland to the headquarters, servicemen are included,,,,,,,, and Denmark Estonia Finland France. Britain Italy Latvia Lithuania Netherlands Sweden

Rostock was the largest port of the GDR and the center of East German shipbuilding. At the same time, the agreement of September 12, 1990 "On the final settlement in relation to Germany" (the so-called "Two plus four") between the two Germanias, the GDR and Germany, as well as the winners in World War II - the USSR, France, Britain and the United States was signed in Moscow and entered into force in March 1991. In this Treaty, in Art. 5 of the treaty, Germany promised that only German forces would be deployed on the territory of the former GDR, from where Soviet troops would be withdrawn, and foreign forces (troops integrated into allied structures, for example, NATO) and nuclear weapons would not appear there.

Sharp decline in the number of military equipment and the number of military personnel in NATO countries over 30 years

For decades, NATO's European members have cut defense spending to fund other priorities. As a result, according to some American military experts, by 2024, the "Amusing Army" remained in Europe, which will not be able to withstand the invaders without American support.

Aircraft carriers of NATO countries. Infographics

EU NATO official proposes arming Islamists in Russia to destroy country

The President of the European Committee for the Development of NATO Gunter Felinger in July 2024 directly wrote that it is necessary to arm radical Islamists living in Russia to destroy the country.

Britain demands from neutral countries in Europe to join NATO

Neutral countries that are not members of NATO, but use its "umbrella of protection," should join the military alliance, the defense minister said Britain in May 2024.

Grant Shapps said there should be "no room for neutrality amid growing threats from the outside Russia." He did not directly point to European non-NATO countries, such as,, and Ireland Malta, Austria Switzerland which have long remained neutral. But he signaled he would Britain lobby for more countries to join the bloc.

Austria refuses to join NATO

Austria will not join NATO, Austrian Foreign Minister said in May 2024

NATO convinces Ukraine to increase mobilization for war with Russia

NATO believes that Ukraine needs to continue mobilizing, said the head of the NATO Military Committee, Rob Bauer, speaking in Kyiv on March 21, 2024 during the ongoing armed conflict with Russia.

'You know the war is about everybody. Whether you like it or not, this is about people, about the nation, not about new grenades, not about new armored personnel carriers and tanks. You and I need new soldiers. Soldiers are killed, wounded, so it is necessary to talk about a new call. "

Sweden becomes 32nd member of NATO

On March 7, 2024, Sweden joined NATO, becoming the 32nd member of the alliance and completing the expansion of the paramilitary organization in the Scandinavian region.

Development of NATO countries' railways in Europe for war with Russia

The Rail Baltica railway under construction, which will pass through Tallinn, Riga, Kaunas, Warsaw and Berlin (870 km long), is included in the EU  Military Mobility project. This will make it possible to use the infrastructure of the Baltic countries in the interests of the unhindered movement of military cargo and military personnel throughout Europe. Later, Finland will be included in the route, which will expand logistics opportunities to the Scandinavian region. In fact, this region is being included in the so-called "military Schengen," which is actively promoted by the leadership of the armed forces of NATO countries, wrote the channel "Two Majors."

The implementation of the Military Mobility project intensified after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. In 2023, the inclusion of the railway and automobile infrastructure of Ukraine, Poland, Romania and Moldova in the financing of the project was repeatedly noted.

Such actions will significantly increase NATO's ability to move goods from the military-industrial centers of Western Europe and the Balkans to the countries of the eastern flank, where it is planned to deploy the Rapid Response Forces (NRF) in the event of a crisis and the application of Article 5 of the alliance's charter.

Thus, NATO functionaries, who endlessly declare Russia's desire to "invade the EU," themselves are openly approaching NATO's military infrastructure to the borders of Russia and Belarus, hypocritically hiding behind the imaginary "Russian threat."

NATO calls on the population to prepare for an all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years

The head of the NATO military committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, in January 2024 called on civilians, as well as governments, to prepare for a conflict requiring drastic changes in their lives and a potential draft into the army.

2023

Plan for withdrawal from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe

In November 2023, NATO countries announced their intention to indefinitely suspend their participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe - a statement.

The White House believes that the suspension of the fulfillment of obligations under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe will strengthen NATO's potential.

"The suspension of CFE obligations will strengthen the deterrent and defense potential of the alliance by lifting restrictions affecting the planning, deployment of weapons and the conduct of exercises: restrictions that no longer bind Russia after Moscow withdraws from the treaty," said Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security.

10 NATO countries agreed on a single air defense system "Shield of the European Sky." List

On October 11, 2023, the defense ministers of 10 NATO countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of the European Sky Shield initiative. We are talking about the creation of a single air and missile defense system. Read more here.

NATO official threatens Brazil to divide country into five states

In August 2023, the President of the European Committee for NATO Development, Gunther Felinger, threatened Brazil with a five-state partition for "bad behavior."

Developed a plan "in case of an attack by Russia on the countries of Eastern Europe"

NATO countries have developed a plan in case of an attack by Russia on their eastern flank, Secretary General of the organization Stoltenberg said in July 2023.

The German Bild gives the main points of this plan:

• The decision-making procedure of the Supreme Commander of NATO in Europe has been simplified.
• German soldiers will help defend themselves, To Lithuania the Canadian-, Latvia British -, Estonia Americans -. To Poland
• The investment of alliance members in defense should be at least 2% of GDP.
• High alert forces in Europe will increase to 300,000, more heavy equipment, air defense, long-range artillery and missiles will be delivered to service. 

Stoltenberg stated that these are "the most extensive defense plans since the end of the Cold War." Their description took 4,400 pages.

Intensifying exercises in Europe

Against the background of the special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine, the scale of training of the armed forces of NATO countries has grown. More and more people and equipment are involved, and during the training, various scenarios for waging an armed conflict are being worked out, taking into account the hostilities in Ukraine.

On May 15, 2023, the exercises of the armed forces and NATO partner countries Spring Storm - 2023 (Kevadstorm) began in Estonia. From May 15 to May 26, maneuvers will be held in Tallinn and its environs.

The event will take place during the same period as a series of major training sessions of the NATO Joint Armed Forces in Finland Lightning Strike - 2023 in Rovajärvi in Lapland. Immediately after that, Northern Forest exercises will be held in the north of the country.

In May 2023, at least ten exercises of the joint NATO armed forces are held on the territory of various European member countries of the North Atlantic Bloc, ranging from a major Defender Europe to Iron Wolf in Lithuania. And until that time, from the third decade of April, ten more similar events were held as part of the NATO OBS.

Visit of NATO head Stoltenberg to Kyiv

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Kyiv in April 2023.

NATO will help Ukraine in the long term so that the armed forces of this country come to full interoperability with the forces of the alliance, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said following the talks.

"We discussed a multi-year support program." Stoltenberg explained that this program, among other things, "will help Ukraine move away from Soviet military doctrines, Soviet weapons."

It is planned that the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023 will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.

Finland became a member of NATO

As a result, the common border of NATO countries with Russia more than doubles, from the current 1,215 to 2,555 kilometers, and the distance from NATO country to St. Petersburg is now only a couple of hundred kilometers.

Entry, Sweden which applied with Finland in May 2022, is formally delayed due to objections, and Turkey in fact initiated by Sweden itself.

The Pentagon has developed a deck of playing cards with NATO weapons to train the military. Photo

On March 28, 2023, it became known about the Pentagon's intention to release a deck of playing cards with images of various NATO weapons. The idea is to help soldiers "identify enemy equipment and distinguish it from arming friendly forces."

According to The New York Times, the deck includes 52 maps with images of tanks, armored personnel carriers, trucks, artillery pieces and other NATO weapons systems, as well as two jokers. For each unit of military equipment, the name, country - manufacturer, type of main weapons and states to which exports can be carried out are indicated.

It is noted that many weapons systems shown in the new deck were either sent to Ukraine in 2022, or are used to train Ukrainian servicemen. For example, the seven peaks are German-made Gepard anti-aircraft guns: Berlin supplied Ukraine with at least three dozen such systems. And the six clubs depict the American multiple launch rocket system on a wheeled chassis M142 HIMARS, which was also delivered to Ukraine in 2022. The red jack is an American-made UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, one of which is in the possession of Ukrainian military intelligence. The French self-propelled artillery unit Caesar is a deuce of worms.

The idea of ​ ​ producing playing cards with images of combat vehicles dates back to at least the times of World War II, when allied and enemy fighters were shown in the set. And the Pentagon has previously distributed decks with samples of Chinese, Russian and Iranian military equipment.

The new cards will be replicated during April 2023. According to officials of the American department, these decks are planned to be provided to American, NATO and Ukrainian troops.^[2]

How do the residents of the countries that make up the alliance relate to NATO

As of March 2023, NATO is best treated in Poland: 93% of the surveyed residents of this country have a positive opinion about the alliance. In the Netherlands, there are 77%, in Britain - 73%.

But the Greeks have a negative attitude towards NATO: only 40% of respondents said positive attitude, 55% said negative attitude. The level of support was not much higher than 50% in Spain, Hungary and France.

16 NATO countries create a single satellite intelligence network

On February 15, 2023, representatives of 16 of 30 countries NATO signed an agreement on the creation of a common satellite intelligence network. The project of a single satellite intelligence network was joined Sweden by and, and the launch Finland is scheduled for 2025. More. here

NATO sites shut down after cyber attack

On February 12, 2023, several NATO websites stopped working after a massive cyber attack. The hacker group Killnet, which is called Russian, may be involved in it.

The cyberattack of hackers was confirmed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, he said that NATO cyber experts are actively engaged in an incident that affected several websites. According to the Secretary General, on the evening of February 12, 2023, attacks were carried out on some NATO-related sites. He assured that the technicians took the necessary measures to protect the resources. Stoltenberg added that as of February 15, 2023, most of the alliance's sites are operating as usual, but users may encounter problems when trying to access some of them. He clarified that technical services are working to restore these resources.

Information about the preparation of the cyber attack began to spread on social networks in mid-February 2023. It was reported that the hacker group Killnet allegedly announced an attack on NATO sites. After that, the portal of the Special Operations Headquarters was unavailable for some time. However, nothing was reported on the official resources of the Alliance on February 15 about the cyber attack.

According to the German news agency DPA, hackers from the Killnet group have been very active since the beginning of 2023. In early February, they attacked the medical sector. The USA list of targets includes corporate networks of hospitals, hospitals, and online medical providers. On January 30, 2023 health care cyber security , the Dutch organization Z-Cert, which provides support to the sector, accused pro-Russian hackers Killnet of going to the To the DDoS-attack university's medical center in Groningen.

For 2023, cyber attacks come in different types, all of which pose a great threat to states and military blocs. One common species is cyber espionage. As a result of such a hacker attack, classified information, unreliably processed, can be intercepted and even changed by another state.^[3]

2022

Military-industrial corporations of NATO countries have risen in price by 22% over the year

The leaders in the growth of shares in 2022 are the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall (+ 122%), the French Thales, which produces drones and missiles (+ 54%), and the American Lockheed Martin (+ 42%) and Northrop Grumman (+ 44%).

WHO is removing an article from the site about the harmful effects of depleted uranium on the environment and humans. NATO is preparing such ammunition for Ukraine

The director of the Institute for Health Protection of Workers in the city of Nis shared a story about how the Americans tried to hide the fact of the use of radioactive shells in Yugoslavia and did everything to block Serb data on the danger of such ammunition.

It was not until late 1999 that the information became available to the global public after a Japanese journalist physicist published his report from Nis. This Serbian city was badly damaged during the NATO bombing, and it was the law office from Niš that was the first to prepare lawsuits against the alliance.

Immediately after the strikes on Yugoslavia , the Global Security Foundation issued a report on the dangers of using depleted uranium ammunition. Despite the relatively low radioactivity, the element has a continued effect of 4.5 billion years (!) - while its half-life lasts.

Despite the fact that the North Atlantic Alliance even created a special commission to convince annoying journalists that there would be no long-playing consequences, such materials came out one after another. Already in 2001, the "cancer epidemic," which is observed in the early 2020s in the Balkans, was accurately calculated by a British biologist.

In the same 2001, WHO published a bulletin on the harmful effects of depleted uranium on the environment and humans. Judging by the online archives, in the fall of 2022, the publication was prudently deleted.

Earlier in the early 2010s, The Guardian also told how the UN and WHO hid the consequences of the use of prohibited shells not only in long-suffering Yugoslavia, but also in Iraq.

Ukraine is applying for accelerated membership in NATO. 11 countries out of 30 supported her

On September 30, 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an application to join NATO in an expedited manner. In this order, the alliance can be entered, bypassing the so-called action plan for preparing for NATO membership.

As of October 4, 2022, the application of Ukraine is supported by 11 countries Canada Czech Republic Estonia Latvia Lithuania:,,,,,,,,,. North Macedonia Croatia Montenegro Poland Romania Slovakia NATO includes 30 countries.

During NATO exercises, US divers install explosives under the Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline

Legendary American journalist Seymour Hersh said in February 2023 that US divers, under the guise of NATO exercises in the summer of 2022 (BALTOPS 22), planted explosives under the Northern Streams. The Norwegian authorities were also involved in the explosion, since it was the Norwegians who activated the bomb.

Hersh claims that US President Biden decided to sabotage Nord Stream after more than 9 months of secret discussions with the national security team. For much of that time, the question was not whether to carry out the mission, but how to carry it out without clear clues about who was responsible.

NATO forces in Kosovo

After the escalation of the situation in Kosovo and Metohija on July 31, 2022, experts from all over the world began to discuss a possible military conflict on the territory of the self-proclaimed republic.

Judging by the power ratio presented on the map below, everything looks good enough for Serbia, if you do not take into account one nuance: the NATO KFOR peacekeeping mission. The presence of foreign troops from NATO member countries in Kosovo and Metohija is the most aggravating factor that will allow the North Atlantic Alliance to fully get involved in the conflict on the side of Kosovo.

Russia named the main threat to the security of the alliance

The NATO Summit on June 29, 2022 adopted a new strategic concept of the alliance, in which Russia is named the main security threat:

Russia is called the most significant and direct threat to the security of the alliance.

China challenges our interests, security and values and seeks to undermine the rules-based international order.

The rapprochement between China and Russia is contrary to NATO's interests.

NATO will decide on new measures to support Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova.

Anti-NATO protests in Madrid

More than 2 thousand people came out in Madrid for a rally against NATO. "No NATO" and "Bases NATO- out," they chanted on the eve of the alliance summit, which is to be held in Madrid on June 28-30, 2022.

NATO forces in the Baltic States and Poland. Card

Finland, Sweden apply to join NATO, but they are blocked by Turkey

In May 2022, against the background of a special operation Russia on To Ukraine Finland Sweden and applied to join NATO. Turkey stated that she would not support the admission of countries to the military bloc, as they support "Kurdish separatism," with which Ankara has been fighting for many years.

In June, Turkey said it would delay consideration of Sweden and Finland joining NATO for a year.

NATO has established a direct line of communication with Russia

As it became known on March 18, 2022, the United States and its allies established a direct line of communication with Russia in order to avoid a conflict between the Russian Federation and the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) as a result of any misunderstanding in connection with the special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.

According to Bloomberg, NATO is worried that the conflict could go beyond the borders of Ukraine due to any misunderstanding - for example, due to a missile that accidentally flew into the territory of the North Atlantic Alliance country.

According to the agency, NATO representatives admit that the Russian armed forces did not try to provoke or clash with the forces of the alliance countries. Nevertheless, the measures taken are useful - due to the fact that hostilities are taking place near NATO borders, the publication says.

On March 4, 2022, the Pentagon announced successful tests of a direct line of communication with the Russian Defense Ministry created in connection with the situation around Ukraine in order to prevent various conflicts and incidents. According to a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, "during the first test, they answered the call, so we know that they know who is calling."

The representative of the department on March 4, 2022 added that the communication line was established within the "last few days," but he did not specify how often it has been used since then. According to CNN, the US European Command is responsible for ensuring communication.

The official representative of the Russian MIDMaria Zakharova then commented on the information as follows:

This is a question, firstly, not of foreign affairs agencies. Secondly, all this was in the form of a leak from the other side, so, probably, you need to go there. In general, I will express our principled position: we have never refused contacts, especially when they were requested by other countries. This, I emphasize again, is our basic position.

In the past, the US military has successfully established hotlines with Russia, including during the war in Syria.^[4]

EU admits mistake promise to Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO

The West made a number of mistakes in relations with Russia, including the promise of NATO membership to Ukraine, the head of EU diplomacy Borrell said on March 11, 2022.

"I am ready to admit that we have made a number of mistakes and that we have lost the possibility of rapprochement between Russia and the West. There are moments that we could do better, there are things that we proposed and then could not realize, such as the promise that Ukraine and Georgia will become part of NATO... I think it's a mistake to make promises that you can't

realize.'

NATO refuses to close skies over Ukraine for fear of war with Russia

In March 2022, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said that NATO understands Ukraine's disappointment with the alliance's unwillingness to close the sky over the country, but "escalation will lead to casualties and suffering outside Ukraine."

Plan to include Ukraine in NATO leads to Russia's special operation in Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, due to NATO's refusal to impose a ban on the inclusion of Ukraine in the bloc, the Russian Armed Forces were forced to launch a special operation in this country to guarantee the security of the Russian Federation.

"I am not satisfied with the reasoning and arguments with which many, including my friends, justify Russia's aggression by the fact that NATO did not fulfill its promises. Perhaps that was the case. There may have been a hoax. But this is history. Do not remember this, "Borrell, head of EU diplomacy, said in October 2022.

What is happening on To Ukraine was the result of Kyiv's intention to join the North Atlantic Alliance, [1] ex-Prime Minister Israel Naftali Bennett, who served as an intermediary between the Russian Federation and Ukraine at the beginning of the conflict, confirmed in February 2023.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during contacts at the initial stage, was already ready to abandon the idea of ​ ​ joining the alliance. "This whole war happened because of their desire to join NATO, and then Zelensky says:" I refuse this idea, "Bennett said. However, he added, Western countries interrupted negotiations and decided not to negotiate with Moscow.

NATO and US responses to Russia's security demands in Europe

In February 2022, the Spanish newspaper El País published the text of Russia's answers from the United States and NATO on security guarantees:

• The North Atlantic Alliance proposed to resume the implementation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) and refrain from testing anti-satellite weapons.

• The United States is ready to discuss with Russia mutual obligations to limit the deployment of offensive missile systems and forces in Ukraine, as well as to begin a dialogue on arms control in the field of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles;

• The United States and NATO invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss disarmament agreements and confidence-building measures in various forums, the success of which leads to the beginning of a de-escalation of the Russian military threat in Ukraine;

• Washington's response states that further Russian buildup of its military forces or aggression against Ukraine will lead to similar steps by the United States and its allies.

• The United States is ready to consider the possibility of signing a document with Russia on security issues of mutual interest.

• ready to give access to Russian inspections to missile defense facilities in Romania in exchange for inspecting Russian facilities;

• ready to include new types of nuclear systems in further arms control agreements;

• are ready to consider additional measures to prevent incidents with the Russian Federation at sea and in the air;

• ready to start an arms control dialogue in exchange for the withdrawal of troops and peacekeepers from Crimea, Transnistria, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

• The US remains strongly supportive of NATO's open door policy.

2021

Number of troops of NATO countries

By the end of 2021, the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance significantly reduced their troops relative to the 1990s. This is evidenced by the data released in May 2022 by the analytical company Statista, collected on the basis of official NATO information. Germany and Italy reduced their troops by 65% in 21 years, as well as other countries with large military contingents, including France, Spain, Great Britain, Turkey and the United States.

For, in information Bloomberg 2022, the defense ministers of 30 NATO countries instructed the military leadership of the alliance to develop plans to strengthen deterrence and defense against Russia. In connection with Russia's military operation on, it To Ukraine is expected that from 2023 NATO countries will again increase the number of their troops. According to the publication, the North Atlantic Alliance until February 24, 2022 positively assessed the policy of reducing the number of arsenals and the number of armed forces pursued by NATO countries and. Russia

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in May 2022 has already announced his intention to deploy significantly more forces in the eastern regions of the alliance. In addition, it is planned to strengthen the air and naval forces under the command of NATO, as well as cyber defense and space capabilities. Earlier, Stoltenberg said that Russia has no right to its own sphere of influence.

The Daily Express compared the armies of Russia and NATO countries in terms of numbers at the end of 2021. The publication says that in terms of the total number of troops, Russia is inferior to the United States. It includes about 1.154 million military personnel, and together with reservists 1.4 million. The US Armed Forces number 1.346 million soldiers, about 800 thousand soldiers are in reserve. Following the United States, Turkey has about 445 thousand troops, France 208 thousand, Germany 189 thousand. The total number of troops of 30 states of the North Atlantic Alliance ranges from 3.5 million to 5 million military.^[5]

Expulsion of 8 employees of the Russian mission to NATO

In October 2021, NATO decided to expel 8 employees of the Russian mission to NATO for "hostile activity."

The organization has reduced the number of accreditations for Russia to NATO to 10.

2020

Emergence of Chief information officer position

In early September 2020, NATO announced that it was hiring an information technology director for the first time. The organization has faced a major challenge in ensuring IT systems are "aligned" across its civilian and military units.

According to the NATO announcement, the new Chief information officer of the military alliance will receive 11,933,08 euros per month or 143,000 euros per year. The new Chief information officer will work from Brussels and report directly to the Secretary General. As NATO notes, a successful candidate will join the alliance "in an era of important changes."

Back in July 2016, members of the organization recognized cyberspace as an area where NATO should defend its interests no less effectively than in the air, on land and at sea. The summary of the 2020 military budget recommendations notes "the growing technical complexity inherent in communications and information requirements and the need for a flexible approach to innovation."

The CIO is expected to provide a "coherent, transparent and effective approach to delivering IT services across NATO units" and "enable the latest technology to be used while continuously improving the alliance's cyber defenses."

The candidate must have at least 15 years "experience in the relevant positions, including at least 10 years in large government or leading industry organizations leading large cross-functional teams. The candidate must also have "multi-stakeholder enterprise-wide program management experience" and have "proven experience in consensus building." Applications for the position of Chief information officer must be submitted by September 22, 2020. It is known that in a week the announcement has already attracted 187 candidates.^[6]

Sweden does not want to join NATO so as not to increase tensions with Russia

Sweden does not want to increase tensions with Russia, so it does not intend to become a member of NATO. This was announced in September 2020 by the Minister of Defense of Sweden Peter Hultqvist.

"Our main task is to strengthen Sweden's defense capability. Since 2015, we have invested a lot of money in this and raised the level of our defense capability by 40%, "said Hultqvist. At the same time, he noted that Sweden has no plans to join NATO.

"Finland, also not a NATO member, has a very long border with Russia, we work closely together. Finland and Sweden militarily must act together. Cooperation is warmly supported by our peoples. This would not have happened if we were members of NATO. In addition, we are fully aware of what Russia is doing, we are not naive. But we don't want to build tensions. We are creating a security system in our region, both NATO and the United States belong to it, "the head of the defense department commented on Stockholm's political guidelines.

He noted that in the geographical situation in which Sweden is located, "it is best not to belong to any military bloc."

In which countries support NATO

Most NATO supporters in Poland - 82%. This is the highest result both among NATO member countries and in general in the world. In the same United States, only 52% of the population positively assess NATO, and in Turkey at all - 21% (while Turkey is a NATO member)

Of the non-NATO states, Lithuania is in first place (77%). The North Atlantic Alliance also has a positive attitude in Sweden (63%), Ukraine (53%) and Slovakia (51%).

In Russia, NATO is not particularly liked: only 16% of the population has a positive attitude towards its activities.

2019: Conducting large-scale cyber exercises

In mid-April 2019, NATO conducted a large-scale cyber warfare exercise - teams from several countries acted against invented hackers trying to cause chaos during elections in a small fictional country.

The purpose of such annual exercises, held under the name Locked Shields, is to test the protection of national IT systems and critical infrastructures during a powerful cyber attack. This is the largest event of its kind organised by the Centre of Excellence for Joint Cyber Threat Protection (CCDCOE). The organizers of the exercises were in Tallinn (Estonia), and the participants themselves played from their bases.

According to the script, hackers attacked the fictional island country during the election. Coordinated cyber attacks are aimed at destroying water treatment systems, electricity, 4G networks and other important infrastructure components. Hackers are also trying to undermine citizens' confidence in the election results, leading to public unrest. The teams played the role of a national rapid response team deployed to assist in the fight against cyber attacks. Participants had to maintain nearly 4,000 virtualized systems, report incidents, make strategic decisions, solve legal and legal problems, and process requests from gaming media.

According to Lauri Luht, head of Cyber ​ ​ Exercises at CCDCOE, in 2019 the exercise was aimed at more complex attacks. The main technical task of the game is to support the work of various systems in an extreme situation, but there are also strategic tasks aimed at solving the various consequences of cyber attacks, including when interacting with law enforcement agencies and the media.

In 2019, the exercise was won France the Czech by a team from, and the Swedish team took second and third places, respectively.^[7]

2017: NATO opens cyber operations centre

NATO will create a common cyber operations center that will unite the capacities of the participating countries in cyberspace, leaving them, however, under national control. This was announced in November 2017 at a ministerial meeting of NATO members in Brussels by Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, TASS^[8] reports^[9]

According to him, the unification of potentials will be carried out in accordance with international law. The Secretary General recalled that the alliance's cyber capabilities have already been used with sufficient effectiveness in the fight against the Islamic State terrorist group.

In fact, the alliance intends to recognize cyberspace as a separate field of activity along with the more traditional spheres of its presence - land, water and air - and bring to the same level the organization of its actions in this new sector, writes Bloomberg. The cyber element will be integrated into all NATO operations, which is consistent with the expansion of the collective defense sphere in 2014, when the alliance agreed to jointly repel cyber attacks.

The decision to consolidate the cyber potential was made against the backdrop of the first modernization of the command structure since the Cold War. During this modernization, the number of NATO headquarters will be increased from seven to nine. One of the new headquarters will focus on maritime security in the Atlantic, the other will be responsible for the movement of troops in Europe.

According to NATO's new policy, along with countering terrorism, the alliance will actively operate on two more fronts: preventing the emergence of a traditional military threat and combating the risk of a hybrid war, which includes cyber attacks.

In its current state, NATO has 6.8 thousand personnel in seven headquarters. This is significantly less than during the end of the Cold War a quarter of a century ago, when the alliance had a staff of 22 thousand employees in 33 headquarters, Bloomberg notes.

2016: NATO Secretary General declares cyberspace a war zone

Cyberspace will become another area of ​ ​ NATO influence, along with the sea, air and land. This was announced following a meeting of the defense ministers of the member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance in Brussels in early 2016.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called cyberspace a new battlefield: "Cyber ​ ​ attacks can cause the use of a collective defense treaty, since we see them as very dangerous actions that can cause serious harm. And, as I said, it's hard to imagine a conflict without action in cyberspace. "

As part of countering cyber attacks, a special center has already been deployed near Tallinn, where experts from 15 countries are located. It works out actions to repel attacks in cyberspace, which are becoming more sophisticated and numerous.

2014

EU seeks Minsk agreements with Russia to buy time for rearmament of Ukraine

In 2022 GERMANY , ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview that "the 2014 Minsk Agreement was an attempt to give To Ukraine time. They used that time to get stronger, which you can see today. Ukraine the 2014/15 sample is not today's Ukraine. As we could observe during the fighting in the Debaltseve area in early 2015, Putin could easily capture them then. "

NATO cyber defense policy update

Since all international conflicts now have a digital component, NATO updated its virtual defense policy in the summer of 2014 to make it clear that a cyber attack could be seen as the equivalent of a conventional weapon attack.

The cyber defense policy of this organization clarifies that a digital attack on a NATO member state falls under Article 5 of the collective defense treaty. It states that an attack on one of the NATO members "will be considered as an attack on everyone" and paves the way for the rest of the organization to take measures against the aggressor - including the use of armed force to restore security.

Jamie Shay, deputy assistant secretary general for security threats, said: "For the first time we are stating explicitly that cyberspace is covered by Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, at the collective defence point. We do not say under what circumstances or under what threshold of attack a collective NATO response will be given, and we do not say what exactly this answer should be. "This will be decided by the allies on an individual basis, but we have established the principle that at a certain level of damage, malice, a cyber attack can be seen as the equivalent of an armed attack."

The new policy was approved by Nato's defence minister and will be approved at a summit in Wales in September 2013. Other policy elements will contribute to improving information exchange and mutual assistance between allies, strengthening cyber defense, NATO training and exercises, as well as intensifying cooperation with the industry.

For a number of years, there has been debate over whether a digital attack could have the same effect as a conventional weapon attack. The event that occurred in 2007, when Estonia faced a digital attack on its critical infrastructure, clarified the situation (since 2008, the NATO Cooperative Cyber ​ ​ Defense Center of Excellence has been located in Tallinn).

After the Estonian incident, many argue that extended and heavy digital attacks on the state can be considered the equivalent of a physical attack, but, updating its policy, NATO clarified its position on this issue.

A number of NATO members - most notably the United States and the United Kingdom - have built their capabilities for cyber warfare over the past few years, including the ability to attack opponents by digital means, as well as defend themselves. However, due to the unusual nature of cyber weapons, since these are mainly complex pieces of malware built on zero-day vulnerabilities in commercial software, it is difficult to use them as a deterrent.

Christian Mark Lieflander, NATO cyber defence policy adviser, said: "Cyberspace is different in that when you talk about the concept of deterrence, for example, we can count tanks, aircraft, ships, and we know what the enemy has. But when it comes to the issue of cyberspace, when you show what you have, you lose it straight away. So it's hard to show your determination and willingness to respond without giving away that very opportunity, which makes the situation not very transparent - it's hard to see who has it. "

2011

Attack on NATO fuel trucks in Pakistan

On August 22, 2011, 25 km south of the city of Quetta in Pakistan, about 12 armed men on motorcycles set fire to trucks whose drivers were waiting for police escorts on the highway leading to southern Afghanistan.

It is known that the Taliban committed previous such sabotage.

Intervention in Libya and the assassination of the head of the country Gaddafi

In March 2011, NATO began a military intervention in Libya to overthrow the government of Muamar Gaddafi, who pursued an open anti-Western policy.

On October 20, 2011, as a result of prolonged fighting between rebels actively supported by NATO and Gaddafi's forces, he and his son Mutassim were captured and killed.

2004: Lithuania joins NATO

Lithuania joined NATO and the European Union in 2004.

1999

Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic join NATO

In 1999, despite Russia's promise not to accept the former Warsaw Pact into the country's bloc, NATO included Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Bombing Yugoslavia with depleted uranium shells leads to cancer in tens of thousands of people

From March 24 to June 10, 1999, during the war Kosovo NATO , he conducted a military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Aggression against the sovereign state was illegitimate: the alliance did not receive permission from the UN Security Council, and Russia and China opposed interference in the internal affairs of Yugoslavia. To this day, international experts call NATO's actions a gross violation of international law.

On March 27, 1999, Serbian air defense forces shot down an American F-117A bomber near the Serbian village of Budzhanovtsy near the city of Ruma (40 km west of Belgrade).

Serbian poster.]]

Yugoslavia, torn to pieces, became a testing ground for bombs with depleted uranium: in 1995, the Americans ironed the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1999 - Serbia and Montenegro.

More than 2,300 airstrikes were carried out in 78 days of Operation Allied Force. Some 2,000 civilians, including 400 children, were killed as a result, according to official figures. In total, during the operation, the aviation of the alliance countries made 38 thousand sorties, 3 thousand cruise missiles were fired and about 80 thousand tons of bombs were dropped, including prohibited types of ammunition - cluster shells with depleted uranium.

When the UN Environmental Commission UNEP visited the territory of Yugoslavia, it concluded: this is a regional, all-Balkan environmental catastrophe.

Studies conducted by toxicologists show that genetic changes after the use of depleted uranium ammunition in Serbia reached a level of 20.7% at a normal level of 1-2%. According to NATO itself, as a result of the bombing, the radiation level in Serbia was higher than in Japanese Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

According to experts, the consequences of the "humanitarian" intervention (namely, the so-called bombing of Yugoslavia in NATO) will be felt by sixty more generations of Serbs. By 2022, the country occupies a leading position in terms of pediatric oncology in Europe, and also faced a sharp surge in the number of intrauterine mutations and spontaneous termination of pregnancy.

In neighboring Montenegro, the situation is no better - over the past decade, the number of patients at cancer centers has tripled. The German documentary Todesstaub also mentions the case of the Bosnian municipality of Hadžići. Due to the off-scale level of radiation after NATO airstrikes, the Serbs were hastily evacuated from there. But Bosnian Muslims, who occupied the territory, subsequently faced a significant increase in cancer. The incidence of leukemia there, for example, has increased sixfold.

Serbian Health Minister Danica Gruicic has repeatedly spoken about the danger of using depleted uranium ammunition. She has long headed the largest Institute of Oncology in the Balkans and spent most of her life studying the consequences of NATO bombing. According to Gruichich, in the space of the former Yugoslavia for 2023, doctors are observing a "cancer epidemic." The minister believes that NATO conducted an experiment on the Serbian population, perfectly aware of the possible consequences.

"If you look at the mortality from malignant tumours, you can see that Serbs, Hungarians and Croats come first. Why? What happened here that did not happen to other countries? If you count all those who fell ill, all children who were not born due to infertility of parents, all those who ended up in a wheelchair due to autoimmune diseases... That's tens of thousands of people. NATO conducted an experiment, and now they are watching its results. And they initially knew well what would happen, "says Gruichich.

The increase in the number of oncological diseases in the region after the NATO bombing led to a major international scandal, when peacekeepers of the international KFOR contingent stationed in the region began to suffer from cancer. The situation with Italian servicemen is especially indicative, whose area of ​ ​ responsibility included territories through which more than half of all shells with depleted uranium were fired. NATO soldiers were forbidden to touch anything with their bare hands and consume local water and food, and in certain areas of Kosovo and Metohija they came to the OZK, which the Italian contingent did not have. And in Italy itself, many reports have already been published on the consequences of the use of depleted uranium.

In the late 2010s, lawsuits against the North Atlantic Alliance were filed in the courts of Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevec, Niš and Vranje. The interests of the affected citizens are defended by well-known Serbian lawyers, as well as Italian Angelo Fiore Tartaglia, who previously managed to obtain compensation for health damage for 200 soldiers who were part of the peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo.

Theoretically, the event has every chance of success: the North Atlantic Alliance has the status of a legal entity, and the lawyers have a significant evidence base and two sentences of the Strasbourg court against the countries that make up the bloc. Italian experts found U-238 in the tissues of two Serb cancer patients - the same radioactive element that filled the shells that ironed Yugoslavia. And Serbian lawyers received confirmation that its quantitative indicators in patient cells exceed the norm by 500 (!) Times.

Lawyers do not give up hope to obtain compensation from NATO for victims for the use of prohibited ammunition. The need to bring those responsible to justice is also spoken in the Republika Srpska (an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina). Parliament Chairman Nenad Stevandich recently said that those with malignant diseases in areas subjected to NATO bombing should receive compensation and recalled that there are already court precedents in Europe.

However, the North Atlantic Alliance has already rushed to declare that they have "immunity from responsibility."

1991: The West promises the USSR not to take Poland and other countries of Eastern Europe to NATO

In February 2022, at the height of the crisis in Ukraine, an article was published in the German Der Spiegel, mentioning a document from the British national archive - Western leaders in 1991 promised not to take Poland and other Eastern European countries to NATO, the West broke the promise not to expand NATO to the east.

The document tells about the meeting of the US Secretary of State, as well as the foreign ministers of Britain, France, the USSR, the GDR and Germany in Bonn on March 6, 1991. These are the very negotiations in the "2 + 4" format, in which the FRG and the GDR, together with the USA, Great Britain, the USSR and France, agreed to unite Germany.

"In the negotiations, we have made clear that we will not expand NATO behind the Elbe. Therefore, we cannot offer Poland and others membership in NATO, "- the statement of the representative of Bonn Jürgen Chrobog is given.

U.S. Representative Raymond Seitz agreed with Hrobog and said, "We have made clear to the Soviet Union that we will not benefit from the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe... NATO should not expand eastward, either officially or unofficially. "

1978

1955: Germany becomes 15th NATO member

In 1955, the Bundeswehr was created in Germany and the country joined NATO.

1954: USSR application to join NATO rejected by France, Britain and the United States

The USSR was looking for ways to get NATO members to promise not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. One of the staunch supporters of applying for NATO membership was Foreign Ministry expert Andrei Gromyko in 1954. With his active participation, a Soviet draft of a pan-European collective security treaty was developed: the Soviet Union proposed to discuss this document in parallel with the issue of joining NATO.

On March 19, a note was sent to the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, which said:

"The Foreign Ministry considers it expedient to join the North Atlantic Treaty. Such a statement would put the organizers of the North Atlantic bloc in a difficult position, emphasizing its allegedly defensive nature and the fact that it seems to be not directed against the USSR and the countries of people's democracy. "

On March 31, 1954, the USSR made a decisive attempt to join NATO. An official note requesting membership in the alliance was addressed to the governments of the United States, Britain and France.

When applying for NATO membership, the new Soviet leadership not least counted on a softening of the international situation after the death of Joseph Stalin.

The message reminded that it was the formation of military blocs that preceded both world wars. According to Moscow, by approving the Soviet application, the Western powers would demonstrate the peaceful goals of the project, and not a clear direction against the USSR, which NATO was reasonably suspected of.

"The North Atlantic Treaty Organization would cease to be a closed military group of states, would be open to the accession of other European countries, which, along with the creation of an effective collective security system in Europe, would be essential for strengthening universal peace," it was argued, in particular, in the note of the Soviet Union.

Simultaneously with the Soviet Union, separate applications for joining NATO were submitted by the Ukrainian SSR and the Belarusian SSR. As with the inclusion in the UN in 1945, when it was necessary to strengthen its influence, Moscow tried to convince the world of the independent status of these republics, which are voluntarily members of the Union.

The governments of the leading Western powers did not believe Moscow, suggesting the populist nature of the Soviet proposals. The opinion prevailed that the true plans of the Soviet Union are aimed, firstly, at ousting the United States from Europe, and, secondly, at undermining NATO from within. To at least start discussions on both issues, the USSR was demanded to leave Germany and Austria, abandon military bases in the Far East and sign disarmament agreements.

Needless to say, such conditions were then deliberately unrealizable, and in the West they understood this perfectly well. The leadership of the Soviet Union was demonstratively offended by the non-admission to NATO. The official statement expressed regret over the position of Washington, London and Paris, which in words "declare their desire to promote détente in international relations," and in fact show "otherwise."

1952: Stalin mentions desire to join NATO in meeting with French ambassador

The topic of Soviet membership in the North Atlantic Alliance was again on the agenda in 1952, when the first expansion of the bloc took place: after Turkey was included, NATO approached the southern borders of the USSR.

During a meeting with the French ambassador Louis Jocks, Stalin, having heard that President Charles de Gaulle views the alliance exclusively as a peaceful organization, ironically asked Foreign Minister Vyshinsky: "Should we join NATO then?"

1949: Britain refuses to discuss USSR joining Western European Union

At the beginning of 1949, USSR Foreign Minister Andrei Vyshinsky, through the mediation of the British Communist Party, sent a London note with a proposal to discuss participation Moscow in the organization - the ideological predecessor - NATO the Western European Union. The negative answer allowed Stalin to call this bloc "a dig at the UN."