As a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, NATO and the European Union are seeking even closer cooperation with the country at war. “As the security threats and challenges we face grow in size and scope, we are taking our partnership to a new level,” they said in a joint statement. The new 14-point cooperation agreement is now the third between NATO and the EU.
The statement will be signed in Brussels on Tuesday by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel and is available to AFP news agency.
“Protection of Critical Infrastructures”
In the “growing geostrategic competition” with powers such as Russia and China and in the “protection of critical infrastructures”, both sides want to coordinate more closely, as the text says. Closer cooperation is also needed in space, in the fight against climate change and “foreign information manipulation and interference”.
In the statement, NATO and the EU once again call on Russia to end the war in Ukraine “immediately”. They also confirm their support for Ukraine. The US, France and Germany had recently promised Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicles of Western design for the first time.
Tenth package of sanctions against Russia?
In the EU, too, a number of member states are pushing for a tenth package of sanctions against Russia, said Swedish EU ambassador Lars Danielsson in Brussels, whose country held the presidency of the states in the first half of the year. Von der Leyen and Michel plan to discuss aid for Ukraine with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit in Kiev on Feb. 3.
NATO and the EU are already the closest partners. However, there are different ideas about the role of the military alliance between EU states: in particular, French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for more autonomy for Europeans from Washington after his ‘brain death’ statements. In Eastern Europe, on the other hand, the US is seen as a protective power against Russia.
The new cooperation agreement should have been signed about a year ago. However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the text had to be thoroughly revised.
Source: Krone
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