Stoltenberg created confusion; Everyone is in shock

Stoltenberg created confusion; Everyone is in shock

The announcement by the Secretary General of NATO that the number of members of the emergency intervention units will rise from 40.000 to 300.000 seems like a dead letter on paper for now.

According to the Washington Post, the leaders of NATO member countries who gathered in Madrid began to wonder which and how many of their troops should enter those units in order to fill the number of as many as 300.000.

"It may be an unrealistic number," said a senior EU official, who, like others who spoke about Stoltenberg's announcement, demanded anonymity.

According to the Washington Post, even more of them stated that they were shocked and surprised by the stated plan for NATO troops, adding that they were not consulted about it at all.

Everyone in the squad is now wondering how many people will have to "give" in order to reach the truly incredible figure of 300.000, as well as where they will distribute them. On the other hand, when NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was asked at a press conference in Madrid how he intended to achieve that magical figure, he said that the "majority" would be stationed in their home countries and would be built on existing staff. That would mean, as he explained, that those troops would stay "at home", but they should be available for quick redeployment in case of crisis. 100.000 in ten days, 200.000 in thirty days.

"Of course, it goes without saying that member countries always contribute to NATO," he added, adding that he expects the plan of 300.000 people in emergency response units to be completed by the end of the year. However, one NATO official, who also requested anonymity, said that the details of Stoltenberg's plan had yet to be worked out with member countries, and that the number of 300.000 was still only theoretical.

"The whole concept has not been worked out yet, and we will now have to make a model according to which we will be able to see what the national obligations would be," said the official.

The confusion over the extremely expanded forces is not related to the smaller, but perhaps more significant announcement that the alliance will engage brigades of about 3.000 to 5.000 soldiers in the four member countries that border Russia and are the most endangered.

Although those numbers were far below Eastern Europe's most ambitious demands in the months leading up to the summit, the creators of such a NATO policy said it would significantly strengthen NATO's ability to defend Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.