2024-07-10 00:45:59
When NATO celebrated its 75th birthday on April 4, it was a sober event at Alliance headquarters in Brussels. The only thing that created a bit of aura was the original North Atlantic Treaty, flown in from Washington. On Tuesday evening, however, the alliance could count on the genius loci. The heads of state and government of the 32 member states began their anniversary summit with a memorial ceremony at the place where the twelve founding members once signed the treaty: Andrew W. Mellon Hall, a neoclassical temple in the American capital. .
It was the start of a thorough stage, more like a musical than a memorial hour, full of schmaltzy music, emotional images and a medal for the Secretary General of the Alliance. All this described the two speeches of the evening, by Jens Stoltenberg and the American President. And a message saved by Joe Biden for this event. “The US, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy will provide Ukraine with the equipment for five more strategic air defense systems,” he announced. What was new was that the US also provided a Patriot fire unit. Biden talked about a “historic grant” – that was not the case that evening.
Ukraine’s air defense systems do not meet expectations
The president of Ukraine helped in his own way. Just seconds after Biden’s announcement, Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted that he began his first day of work at the NATO summit with a “tangible result,” namely the five air defense systems that “protect people, cities and critical infrastructure.” Zelenskyj was sitting in the audience; He thanked Biden for his leadership and recalled the recent Russian attack on a children’s hospital. That was also part of the performance: managing expectations towards the audience in Kiev, who will not again be invited to the alliance at the summit.
The five systems do not meet Ukraine’s expectations either. Ukraine’s president claimed at the end of April that his country needed at least seven more Patriot fire units. Germany was the first country to announce another delivery there; Before the summit, Romania agreed on one thing. The Netherlands is supplying components for a fire unit that they have now put together with the help of other partners. Italy provides another system of the SAMP/T type, developed jointly with France. Before the summit, diplomats had hoped there would be a total of six or seven systems in Washington. “We are working on an additional announcement of additional strategic air defense systems for Ukraine this year,” the five countries said in a statement Tuesday afternoon, keeping hope alive.
The United States and its partners also want to deliver dozens of tactical air defense systems to Ukraine “in the coming months,” he said. The German-developed Iris-T system, the American-Norwegian Nasams system and the US Hawk system as well as the German Gepard anti-aircraft gun tank were specifically mentioned. All these weapons are already in use by the armed forces of Ukraine. Kyiv is also expected to receive more interceptor missiles. Regarding exports, Biden said, the United States would “make sure that Ukraine moves forward in the queue.” In total, the country will receive “hundreds” of additional interceptor missiles in the coming year.
Biden made a fairly stable impression
“Protecting our Future” was written in gold letters at the foot of the stage in Mellon Hall. The slogan was aimed at NATO of course. But it also suited the situation of the US President that evening. There is enormous pressure on Biden to withdraw his candidacy for a second term. The White House had its hands full on Monday denying reports of a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Because of this, Biden made a solid impression. His voice was loud, if not always clear. And the irony affected the rather stiff and static presentation style, because of the teleprompter. Biden apologized to Stoltenberg’s wife for the fact that her husband had to extend his contract several times – at his own initiative.
All in all, it was a good start for the president, who was able to present himself to his home audience as a leader of the free world. It was fitting that at the end he invited Stoltenberg back on stage to hang the President’s Peace Medal, the country’s highest civilian honour, around his neck. “Peace on earth” was then sung – as a reminder that NATO is a peace alliance. Stoltenberg was known to say that at 75 years old it is now a year older than the Attic Sea Alliance in ancient Greece – and therefore “not only the most successful and strongest alliance, but also the longest alliance ever in history”.
32 alliances come together for meetings
The commemoration was a prelude to the working sessions of the government leaders in the following two days. On Wednesday they will meet for the first time as 32 allies, with Sweden now a member for the first time. At this meeting, the leaders – as usual – want to accept the final declaration. Then the matter of Ukraine comes back. Until the end, there was a debate about whether the country was on an “irreversible path” that “leads to membership”.
Germany would like to delete that from the text. It was explained that additional weapons were much more important than a single word in the declaration. The chancellor was unable to prevail, however. Of course, Kyiv is being warned against further reforms. Eastern allies in particular pushed for more binding language in the declaration than last year. It was briefly stated at the time: “We will be able to invite Ukraine to join the alliance if the allies agree and if the conditions are met.” Zelensky called this “absurd” – which led to a public scandal.
Biden does not want to support the “NATOization of Ukraine”.
This year it was clear from the beginning that Kiev would not receive an invitation to participate or an accession date. Biden himself made this clear with shocking words at the beginning of June. The president told Time magazine that he was not prepared to “support the NATOization of Ukraine.” To justify this, he referred to “significant corruption” that he had already observed during his time as a senator. US diplomats later tried to play down these words. The president did not rule out joining now, but nothing for the future, it was said.
However, some allies fear that the US and Germany, as the leaders of a small group of skeptics, are interested in something else: that is, using Ukraine’s NATO membership as a “bargaining chip” when negotiations come with Russia to end the war at some point. against Ukraine. This is very important for countries on the eastern side, and the word “irreversible” in the final declaration does not change that. They believe that Russia would only be deterred from further attacks if Ukraine came under the alliance’s protective umbrella. Some believe that a quick intervention now could end the war. There is still tension here that was masked by the festivities in Washington but not resolved.
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