NATO agrees on largest armament programme in decades
NATO has agreed on the largest rearmament programme since the Cold War, sources close to the talks told dpa on Thursday.
It provides for a huge expansion of deterrence and defence capacities in the coming years, as Russia continues to pose a major threat to the Western military alliance.
The top priorities are long-range weapons systems, air defence and mobile land forces, according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The rearmament programme entails specific targets for different military capabilities. Individual NATO countries are given precise instructions on what they have to contribute to joint deterrence and defence in the near future.
The required capabilities were defined based on new defence plans. These also take into account assessments by intelligence services’ that Russia could be ready to attack a NATO ally in just a few years, despite Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
