On Thursday 17 and Friday 18 October, NATO’s defence ministers meet in Brussels for their traditional meeting, which will be the first for NATO’s new Secretary General, Mark Rutte.
According to Mr Rutte, the meeting will provide an opportunity to follow up on the implementation of the decisions taken at the Washington Summit with regard to strengthening the Allies’ defence and deterrence, supporting Ukraine and deepening the Alliance’s partnerships.
Partnerships. The Allies will be joined for the first time by their partners from the Indo-Pacific region - Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand - and the EU, which will be represented by Charles Fries. The participants are expected to discuss their common challenges, as they face security problems, notably due to the growing alignment of authoritarian actors such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Mr Rutte explained that the aim was to see how to strengthen cooperation in the fields of innovation, supply chains and defence industrial production.
The Americans are encouraging closer relations with these four countries in the Indo-Pacific region. “Our future will be written in the Indo-Pacific”, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday.
The development of cooperation between the EU and the Alliance could also be raised, given the new NATO Secretary has come out in favour of this.
Ukraine. The NATO/Ukraine Council, attended by Ukrainian Minister Rustem Umerov, will take the form of a dinner. The situation on the ground is complicated for both Ukraine and Russia. The ministers are expected to discuss their support for Kyiv, while the Ramstein meeting at leaders’ level, scheduled for 12 October, has been cancelled and no new date has been announced. On Wednesday 16 October, NATO’s Secretary General announced that the Allies had pledged €20.9 billion in military aid to Ukraine in the first half of 2024 and were “on track” to meet their commitments for the remainder of the year.
Mr Zelensky’s ‘Victory Plan’ will also be “on the table”, according to Mr Rutte. The first point of this plan is an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance now, with membership to follow later. On Wednesday, sources reiterated that the conditions for the country’s accession had not changed. At the Washington summit, the Allies pledged to continue to help Ukraine on “its irreversible path towards full Euro-Atlantic integration, including membership of NATO”, adding that they would extend an invitation to Kyiv to join the Alliance “when the Allies decide to do so and the conditions are right”. Mr Zelensky’s plan consists of five points - geopolitical, two military (defence and deterrence), economic and security - and three secret annexes.
On Friday, the ministers of the allied countries will meet to discuss deterrence and defence issues, one of the priorities of the new Secretary General (see EUROPE 13494/3). “Progress has already been made, but more needs to be done”, explained Mr Rutte.
Discussions should focus on the state of readiness, the implementation of plans decided in recent years, such as regional defence plans and new defence plans, and the strengthening of the transatlantic defence industry.
The ministers could also give the go-ahead for the launch of a NATO standardisation initiative. “Standards underpin our ability to fight together, and better implementation of standards can help reduce the cost of defence procurement. This is therefore essential work for NATO”, Mr Rutte argued.
Missions. The Allies will also review the status of the Alliance’s missions in Kosovo (KFOR) and Iraq.
While no formal discussions on the US elections are planned, the subject is likely to be discussed in the corridors. The same will apply to the situation in the Middle East.
The NATO meeting will be preceded by a ministerial meeting of the force-contributing members of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (D-ISIS), with the aim of adapting the coalition to an evolving threat from Islamic State in the Middle East, according to the office of US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Some thirty countries are expected to be represented at ministerial level. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)