NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said the North Atlantic Council has cleared a plan to deploy in 2017 multinational battalions to the eastern part that marks the alliance’s border with Russia, DoD News reported Friday.
Stoltenberg said at the two-day Warsaw Summit that kicked off Friday in Poland that the U.S. will serve as the lead country for the battalion in Poland, Canada in Latvia, Germany in Lithuania and the U.K. in Estonia, Jim Garamone writes.
“[The battalions] demonstrate the strength of the transatlantic bond, and they make clear that an attack on one ally would be considered an attack on the whole alliance,†he said.
Stoltenberg noted that NATO officials also declared initial operational capability for the Ballistic Missile Defense system, Garamone reports.
“This means the U.S. ships based in Spain, the radar in Turkey and the interceptor site in Romania are now able to work together under NATO command and control,†he said.
Stoltenberg also discussed cyber space as a new operational domain as well as NATO member countries’ pledge to increase their defense spending and plan to engage in a dialogue with Russia, according to the report.
