NATO believes that Russia is “challenging” it

The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, considered that the risk of conflict in Ukraine is “real” and Europe faces the “most dangerous time for your safety in generations”, and warned that Russia is “challenging” the Alliance with its attitude on the eastern border of Europe.

Stoltenberg noted, in a virtual speech during a seminar organized by the Netherlands on the future of NATO, that “the risk of conflict is real” and explained that “Moscow is challenging its fundamental security principles, such as the right of NATO to protect and defend its allies and the right of every nation to choose its path”referring to the debate on Ukraine’s entry into NATO.

“Today we face the most dangerous moment for European security in generations. Ukraine, our highly valued partner, remains under imminent threat from Russia. NATO allies are united in full support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine’s sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders“, summarized.

Faced with this situation, he said, it will continue to provide “strong political, practical and financial support to help Ukraine build its defense capabilities” and to “defend your right to self-defense”.

Moscow “is showing strength and issuing ultimatums not only to redraw the borders in Europe, but to try to rewrite the entire global security architecture”, added Stoltenberg, who considered that the crisis in Ukraine “stresses the importance of cooperating” with NATO partners to defend “shared values ​​and security”.

“We are faced with a fundamental question about the world we want to live in: one in which the great powers dictate what others do with aggression and ultimatums, or a world in which everyone is free to choose their own path, able to live in freedom and democracy. This is the world we want and for which we are working”, he added.

NATO alliances with other countries are “essential to preserve peace, promote stability and enhance security for all” and that relationship is “a two-way street” in a “increasingly disputed and competitive world“, he pointed.

“After the fall of the Berlin Wall, alliances with NATO have helped spread freedom, democracy and security in Europe. Since the 1990s, NATO’s operating partners have helped increase stability beyond our borders and continue to be essential in continuing to adapt to an increasingly dangerous and competitive world,” he assured.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also spoke at the seminar, noting that Russia “threatens war on Europe’s eastern border in unprecedented move” and marked “serious escalation and flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” the recognition of the pro-Russian republics of Donetsk and Lugansk by Moscow.

“It is undoubtedly a threat to Ukraine, but it is also a threat to European and international security. We must be clear: there are no old and new members, western or eastern, first class or second class. We are all NATO allies and stand together as one”, he warned.

The head of the Dutch government recalled that in 2014 “we have witnessed the occupation of Crimea” and now Russia has shown that “it is prepared to take more aggressive steps” and that is “unacceptable”.

Rutte explained that NATO is “essential to defending our safety and freedom” in the European Union (EU) and remains “the cornerstone of our defense and the basis of our collective security policy”, and more in one “new global reality”, he affected.

“The reality is that the EU relies heavily on NATO and our transatlantic allies for our security. We are not in a position to create an equal and independent alternative, nor should we try. But we do need to make sure that the EU can do more for itself, that it can show more readiness and resolve when it comes to security and defenseRutte added.