Stoltenberg said, among other things, that he wanted to take the partnership “to the next level”, but is not leading to concrete steps, thinks Europe reporter Stefan de Vries. “It won’t be very concrete,” he says. ‘However, there will be increased cooperation in areas such as space travel, cybercrime, new technologies, security, the consequences of climate change and foreign interference. So there are a lot of ambitions, but no concrete examples yet.’
And this was necessary, continues De Vries. The last summit between NATO and the EU was more than four years ago. “The world has changed considerably in these four years, so it was certainly necessary for NATO and the EU to get closer.”
Ukraine
The Russian invasion of Ukraine acted as a catalyst for this, De Vries believes. Thanks to a common enemy, the motivation to visit each other was fueled. “The two alliances are very different in nature,” he continues. “NATO is dominated by the US and is more of a military cooperation, while the EU is more of a political and economic cooperation.”
According to De Vries, the EU is also looking for ways to defend itself. “There is talk of a more common European defense and, although a European army is still a long way off, the EU knows very well that NATO is crucial for the survival of the European Union,” says De Vries. “And this is where it gets a little tricky sometimes. But now the noses are pointing in the same direction.”
Eastern border
During the summit, according to De Vries, there was also a brief discussion on the protection of the eastern borders of the European NATO countries. “Obviously we have to protect them,” he continues. ‘To this end, NATO could also be enlarged to include Finland and Sweden. While this is not yet entirely certain, it is clear that the world looks different than it did four years ago, and both NATO and the EU need to respond to this”.
De Vries points out that things are made easier by the fact that many EU countries are also members of NATO. “But NATO is dominated by the United States in defense matters,” he concludes. “And we’re not far in Europe without American support.”
Putin is shooting himself in the foot
Putin’s attempt to weaken the Western bloc has also failed definitively with the new agreements, thinks De Vries. “You could say that when it comes to Europe, they’ve gotten closer than ever since the war,” he concludes. ‘The same goes for Finland and Sweden, which are candidate NATO members. This was unthinkable a year ago, because those countries attached great importance to their neutrality.’
According to De Vries, Putin’s attitude has pushed both countries into the arms of NATO. “But at the same time, Russia has also developed other ties with countries outside the Western Bloc, especially China. They also work together to gain more power. So maybe Putin shot himself in the foot, the other foot is still standing.’