The initial announcement appeared to be a sevenfold increase from the 40,000 troops NATO currently has on alert. Two NATO officials told CNN that the number had caught the heads of defense of many NATO countries. It was not clear to them, for example, which troops from each Member State would be needed to contribute to this new high-level force or whether several countries had been requested or agreed to provide sufficient forces for it. It was a point of apparent confusion and detachment in an otherwise highly choreographed display of unity among the Allies. Two senior NATO officials told reporters in a briefing on Thursday that the new high-level model would eventually replace the NATO Response Force model, but that “it is still a work in progress”. “We know from the nations, through our planning process, the number of forces the nations have at their disposal, the readiness they have,” said one of the officials. “So, there will be a lot of repetition to complete this model, but we would not give numbers for a model if we were not extremely sure that we could achieve these things. But it is an ongoing project.” The high-profile summit saw NATO formalize its invitation to Sweden and Finland to join its alliance on Wednesday, a historic extension of the defense bloc. The group collectively decided to approve the countries’ applications for membership after Turkey withdrew its objections on Tuesday, paving the way for the most consequent NATO enlargement in decades. The decision will now go to the parliaments and legislatures of the 30 Member States for final ratification. NATO leaders have said they expect the process to move quickly, allowing for an unprecedented rapid integration and show of unity against Putin. The enlargement vote, coupled with significant new commitments strengthening NATO’s strength in Europe, combined to make this week’s summit in Madrid one of the most productive in recent memory. The alliance approved a new “Strategic Concept” document outlining NATO ‘s goals for the next decade. The document, last updated in 2010, outlines the security challenges facing the defense alliance and outlines a course of action. For the first time, the document describes China’s “challenge”, saying that “the country’s ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values.” This was the first time the Strategic Concept paper mentioned China. the 2010 edition made no reference to Beijing. It also states that climate change is “a crucial challenge of our time”. The document identifies Russia as “the most important and immediate threat to the security of allies and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area” and refers to NATO’s support for an independent Ukraine. In the 2010 version of the document, Russia was referred to as a “Euro-Atlantic partner”. Officials said that under the new model, many of the troops would remain in their home countries instead of moving under the command of NATO’s Allied Operations Command. But they would be readily available to NATO if a security crisis arose, such as if Russia were to attack a member state. Asked what would be the trigger for these forces to be put on alert under NATO command, one of the officials would only answer that it would include “indications and warnings” of a possible attack.
