NATO, in front of important decisions regarding the support of Ukraine and the situation in the Pacific

The NATO summit in Washington, which will be held between July 9-11 and which will mark the 75th anniversary of the formation of the alliance, is an important event in terms of the decisions to be taken for the continuation of supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, as well as of strengthening the deterrence position on the entire Eastern Flank.

The Summit program will include three high-level meetings of the North Atlantic Council, including in formats with Ukraine, the European Union and NATO partners in the Indo-Pacific, as well as an anniversary event. Several official documents will also be adopted, including the Summit Declaration and a NATO-Ukraine Council Declaration.

President Klaus Iohannis will also be present at the summit, who according to a press release issued by the Presidential Administration will highlight, in the working sessions, the crucial importance of the transatlantic link and collective defense, based on Article 5. In this sense, Klaus Iohannis will supports the Allied decisions regarding the strengthening of NATO's deterrence and defense posture and will request increased attention to the Eastern Flank and the Black Sea, a region of strategic importance for Euro-Atlantic security.

The cited source also says: "President Klaus Iohannis will also emphasize that NATO's position is based on robust and efficient forces, capabilities and command and control arrangements, capable of responding to all threats. During the meeting, Romania will support the substantial support package for Ukraine. It will show that Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration into NATO is irreversible, in line with the decisions adopted at the NATO Summit in Bucharest in 2008 and in Vilnius in 2023. Also, the President of Romania will plead for the continuation of support in favor of vulnerable NATO partners, in especially for the Republic of Moldova, and increasing their capacity to respond to growing hybrid threats. President Klaus Iohannis will support NATO's efforts to strengthen the relationship with partners from the South".

Regarding NATO's deterrence and defense posture, we recall that an important component is its military presence on the Eastern Flank. In recent years, the Allies have increased NATO's presence by establishing multinational battle groups in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. They also sent more ships, planes and troops to NATO's eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. The battle group in Romania is led by France and, in addition to Romanian and French soldiers, it also includes soldiers from Belgium, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal and the United States of America

The summit will also discuss strengthening resilience, NATO's response to threats from the South and deepening cooperation with NATO partners.

It is the first summit in which Sweden participates as a member state, NATO currently has 32 allied countries. It is the last summit led by Jens Stoltenberg as Secretary General of NATO, a position he held for 10 years and which, from October, will be taken over by former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

In addition to the summit, Washington also hosts the NATO Public Forum, an event that aims to promote a better public understanding of NATO's policies and objectives and of the decisions that will be adopted at the Washington Summit, through dialogue and involvement with a diverse group of stakeholders, from heads of state and government or ministers, to international security experts, opinion leaders, academics, journalists and young people, in a series of discussions, debates and interactive sessions on various themes of on the agenda of the summit. This year, the NATO Public Forum is organized by the US government together with the Atlantic Council think-tank, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), GLOBSEC, the German Marshall Fund and the Hudson Institute.