NATO steps up presence in Europe, Middle East

(Vatican Radio) Leaders of the NATO military alliance have agreed to provide military support to countries in the Middle East that are suffering of Islamic extremism and pledged to maintain a strong military presence in Afghanistan. NATO also announced that it would launch a new naval mission in the Mediterranean, a day after it already agreed to station thousands of rotating troops in Eastern Europe with U.S. President Barack pledging unwavering support to Europe.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report: 

At the two-day summit in Warsaw, Poland, leaders met to discuss NATO's most significant changes since the Cold War amid concerns over what the alliance views as Russia's aggression in Ukraine and other areas as well as Islamic extremism.

In of their latest decisions, NATO's 28-member states agreed in principle for alliance surveillance aircraft to provide direct support to the U.S. led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, with first flights expected within the next few months.

The alliance also said it would increase cooperation with Jordan and will help the fragile new government of Libya to design policies and institutions to better defend itself against extremist organizations there.

Additionally NATO agreed to maintain a strong presence in Afghanistan and fund its military to fight Taliban militants through 2020, with the US pledging 3.5 billion dollars annually and other NATO allies 1 billion dollars each year. Afghanistan's government is expected to contribute as much as half a billion dollars for the effort to maintain more than 352,000 Afghan army troops and police officers.

NATO chief happy

The measures were music to the ears of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. "I thanked President Obama for his significant decision on troop levels. I also commended the other framework nations Germany, Italy and Turkey and all other allies and partners that contribute to the mission for their strong commitment to our mission,” he said.

NATO also agreed to launch a new maritime operation in the Mediterranean which will be involved in counter terrorism and cooperate with the European Union to tackle human smuggling as Europe faces its biggest refugee crisis since World War Two.

At day one of what has been described as the alliance's most important summit since the Cold War, NATO also agreed to send as many as 4,000 troops to Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia where leaders have expressed concerns about what they view as Russian aggression in countries such as Ukraine.

U.S. President Barack Obama described NATO's latest measures as historic saying "we’re moving forward with the most significant reinforcement of our collective defense any time since the Cold War." He said that the United States would also provide an additional 4,000 troops rotating through Europe as part of an armored brigade. 

Protests, concerns

Yet hundreds of demonstrators outside the venue protested against the summit and NATO's actions while Moscow also expressed concern.

Obama made clear however that the alliance had no other choice than step up its military presence in Europe and elsewhere. "In the nearly 70 years of NATO, perhaps never have we faced such a range of challenges all at once — security, humanitarian, political," he argued.

"NATO nations — the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, and Turkey — have endured heinous terrorist attacks directed or inspired by ISIL," he said using the alternative acronym for the Islamic State group. "Russia has violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of an independent European nation — Ukraine — and engaged in provocative behaviour toward NATO allies," Obama told reporters.

He added NATO's military movements also come while Europe faces challenges such as massive millions of migrants fleeing war and poverty while questions remain over Europe's future integration after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a recent referendum. 

However the last president of the Soviet Union during the Cold War Michhail Gorbachev, has condemned NATO's actions, warning that in his words NATO has begun "preparations for escalating from the Cold War into a hot one."