The US, France and the UK share NATO's dismantlement among themselves

МОСКВА, 05 февраля 2022, Институт РУССТРАТ.

An additional 3,000 American military personnel are beginning to relocate to Europe. The fact that this will happen was voiced by US President Joe Biden in early February, referring to the desire to «strengthen NATO forces to prevent Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”.

US Department of Defence spokesman John Kirby clarified that 1,000 troops from the “Stryker” brigade based in Germany will be sent to Romania in addition to the 900 troops already there, and 2,000 troops from Fort Bragg (North Carolina) will go to Germany, most of whom will go further to Poland.  At the same time, Kirby stressed that American troops are called to «strengthen NATO» on its eastern flank, and not to «fight in Ukraine”.

«It is important that we sent a strong signal to Mr. Putin and, frankly, to the whole world that the North Atlantic Alliance matters to the United States and to our allies, we have ironclad obligations under Article 5, when an attack on one is an attack on all,» Kirby added.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Washington’s “determination». According to him, this is a «powerful signal of the US’ commitment» to European security. Stoltenberg also said that the deployment of NATO troops is «defensive and proportionate» and «will send a clear signal that NATO will do everything necessary to protect and defend all its allies”.

However, in the United States itself, not everyone is confident in Washington’s policy. Well-known American Senator Marco Rubio in an interview with Fox News said that he does not support Biden sending troops to Europe «in the face of the Russian threat”. As he explained further, «to be honest, I do not know anyone who would call for supporting the participation of American troops in the war in Ukraine. I certainly don’t support that. Even Ukrainians don’t ask for it.»

In turn, three American political scientists — Michael Allen, Carla Machain and Michael Flynn — wrote an article in which they noted, on the one hand, that «the Biden administration is trying both to demonstrate US support for NATO allies and to calm the allied countries, hoping at the same time to contain the Russian invasion of Ukraine”. But, on the other hand, they pointed out that Washington’s military preparations «could further increase tensions in Eastern Europe”.

The intrigue is caused by the fact that, as the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung writes, the additional forces «will not be transferred under the command of NATO, but will continue to be under the direct command of the Americans”. In other words, Washington is implementing some mysterious goals, only hiding behind the North Atlantic Alliance. And what does the United States really want?

In principle, there are a lot of unclear things in this whole story. If it is still possible to explain why about 1,700 American soldiers are being transferred to Poland, then the choice of Romania generates intrigue. At least Warsaw is constantly trumpeting about the «Russian threat» and is developing plans to receive a million Ukrainian refugees in the event of a «Russian invasion». Bucharest was not seen in such a thing.

Moreover, not only Washington, but also Paris declares its desire to «strengthen» Romania with its troops. The other day, French Defence Minister Florence Parly, in an interview with France Inter, announced plans to send «several hundred» French soldiers to the Eastern European country. According to Parly, Romania is a «zone of extreme tension», since Russia and Ukraine also have their own «front» there. Where and which one?

It is obvious that this «explanation» covers up some other considerations of Paris. And the same can be said about the recent actions of Great Britain, which announced the creation of an alliance with the participation of itself, Poland and Ukraine (UKPOLUK), which some Polish analysts called the emergence of an «alliance outside NATO». As a result, it turns out that Washington, London and Paris, being allies in the North Atlantic Alliance, take separate decisions for themselves, however, without forgetting to mention NATO.

But do they really need the North Atlantic Alliance? In fact, among these three «separatists», only the United States is most interested in it, but only in imposing the products of the American military-industrial complex on allies. France gave up on NATO a few years ago, when Macron even heatedly declared about its “brain death”. The United Kingdom, which over the past six months has taken part in the establishment of the AUKUS alliances in the Asian direction and UKPOLUK in the European one, showed what it really thinks about the North Atlantic Alliance.

In this situation, NATO is beginning to turn into a smokescreen for the implementation of its own plans by the leading players. And Stoltenberg’s statements that the North Atlantic Alliance «will do everything necessary to protect and defend all its allies» are an attempt by the Norwegian Secretary General, who is leaving this post and thinking about continuing his career in the Central Bank of Norway, to save his face.

The question is what will replace NATO and how the security architecture in Europe will be built. Apparently, Washington, London and Paris want to play through this intrigue amongst themselves.

Институт международных политических и экономических стратегий Русстрат

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