Biden announces plans to bolster US force presence in Europe
President Biden on Wednesday announced plans to bolster U.S. forces in Europe to defend “every inch” of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) territory amid a persistent threat from Russia.
Biden vowed to increase the number of troops stationed in Europe on the second day of a NATO summit in Madrid during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Specifically, the president announced plans to permanently headquarter U.S. Army V Corps in Poland, according to the Associated Press, and increase rotational deployments to the Baltic states – both moves that will bolster forces on NATO’s easter flank.
Biden said that NATO would be “ready for threats in all directions.” He also commended the progress toward adding Finland and Sweden as members of the alliance, saying: “NATO is more needed now than it ever has been.”
Stoltenberg said the new U.S. force posture commitments were demonstrative of U.S. leadership.
The alliance is seeking to project unity and strength at the summit in Madrid as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to press forward with a bloody military campaign in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine is the dominant topic of the summit, and other alliance members are also expected to make new force posture commitments. The alliance will also endorse a new strategic concept that explicitly mentions China, a recognition by the members of the growing threat posed by Beijing.
The summit saw a major development on its first day when Turkey dropped its objections to Finland and Sweden’s membership bids, paving the way for both countries to join the alliance.
The three countries signed a memorandum pledging to deepen counterterrorism cooperation, in a nod to Ankara’s stated concerns about Finland and Sweden not doing enough to crack down on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group identified as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and European countries.
President Biden is scheduled to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan later Wednesday on the sidelines of the summit.
Source: TEST FEED1
