A summit of the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was held between 28th-30th June in Madrid, Spain. The NATO Madrid Summit was held on the 40th anniversary of Spain’s accession to the international military alliance that consists of 30 member states from Europe and North America. NATO was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4th April 1949, after the end of the Second World War. It was created as a tool of US imperialism to establish its military domination over Europe, and threaten the Soviet Union and countries of Peoples Democracies of Eastern Europe.
The Madrid Summit clearly reflected the strategy of the U.S. imperialists and the NATO member countries to broaden the scope of the alliance’s aggressive operations. NATO leaders agreed to strengthen and enhance battlegroups on its eastern flank. Battlegroups are fighting formations which can be deployed at any moment for war. The troops in these battle groups are drawn from several NATO member countries. The NATO summit also decided to increase the number of high readiness forces from 40,000 to more than 300,000. These troops will be based in their home countries. They will be dedicated to specific countries in eastern Europe, where NATO plans to build up stocks of equipment and ammunition. This clearly indicates that NATO is increasingly ensuring that the conflict in Ukraine continues indefinitely and is not resolved.
Right through the Madrid Summit, the accent was on preparing NATO as a bloc to counter Russia and China. Towards this end, the Summit invited the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to attend its summit for the first time. Further, the Summit approved NATO’s “New Strategic Concept”, a blueprint for its strategy for the next decade. This calls for arming NATO further, to prepare to defeat Russia as the “most significant and direct threat” to NATO’s security. The New Strategic Concept also accuses China of posing “systemic challenges”.
The US has been systematically expanding NATO eastwards, in violation of earlier agreements with Russia not to expand NATO into Eastern Europe. Thousands of NATO troops have been stationed all along Russia’s western border, thereby posing a serious threat to her security. NATO demonstrated that it intends to continue this expansion by inviting Finland and Sweden to join the alliance. This is a further provocation to Russia’s security.
The Summit also launched the NATO Innovation Fund, that will invest one billion euros ($1.05 billion) for military use. Following the conflict in Ukraine, spending commitments by NATO member countries have been increasing despite mass opposition by the people of these countries. People are demanding that public funds for food, fuel and health are not diverted to military spending. However, leaders of the U.S. and other NATO member countries have committed to even greater military spending under the guise of enhancing the security of the people of Europe. President Joe Biden announced a massive increase in America’s military presence in Europe, including a permanent U.S. base in Poland, two more Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain, and two more F35 squadrons in the U.K.
It should be noted that in April 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution which called on President Joe Biden to push “to strengthen democratic institutions within NATO member, partner, and aspirant countries.” It spelt out the direction for increasing U.S. domination and control of Europe. Using talk of “democratic principles”, NATO is to be further weaponized politically and militarily. Claims of “shared democratic values” will also be used to justify actions against Russia, China, and other countries in Asia for purposes of U.S. domination. It will be used to interfere in the internal affairs of member countries.
Concluding the Madrid Summit, NATO issued a warning that the world has been plunged into “a dangerous phase of big power competition and myriad threats”. But it is the very existence of this ever-expanding war mongering alliance that has brought about this situation. NATO and its activities only exacerbate the threat to peace. The US imperialists and their NATO allies are shouting from the rooftops about how they stand for the right of nations to self-determination, how they respect the sovereignty of other countries and peoples. This is a monstrous lie. The US and its NATO allies have consistently trampled on the sovereignty of countries and peoples who want to pursue their own economic and political course.