Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský calls for NATO to strengthen the defense and designate Russia as the main threat to the Euro -Atlantic space.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský considers the crucial for allies in the North Atlantic Alliance to re -call Russia the most serious direct threat to the Euro -Atlantic space. He said this on Wednesday before departure to the informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Turkey, says TASR newsletter in Prague.
According to him, the Russian threat will not disappear even after the peace of weapons in Ukraine. Her realistic understanding should be the basis for all changes within NATO, including modernization and strengthening of defenses, Lipavský said. He added that Russia is not only leading a conventional war in Ukraine, but is fighting against all the countries that support Ukraine.
The aim of the Ministers’ meeting in Turkey is to prepare the content of the upcoming NATO summit in the Hague, which, according to the head of Czech diplomacy, will focus mainly on defense and deterioration issues. “The Czech Republic supports the proposal of the Secretary -General (Mark) Rutte, who wants to strengthen the Alliance – we need it faster, stronger and one where states even more fairly distribute their obligations,” the minister said.
He expects that the Hague will be confirmed by a commitment from last year’s Summit in Washington to provide Ukraine with security aid worth at least $ 40 billion a year. He considers it logical that, due to changes in the US policy, the role of European states will increase. Lipavský also believes that the Alliance will maintain or possibly strengthen the organizational role in the coordination of this aid.
The Czech minister would like Ukraine to be a member of NATO one day. “I believe that the result of any peace negotiations will be the defense of Ukrainian sovereignty, including the possibility of being a member of NATO. But one of the goals of Russian aggression is to prevent it, we have to say that straight,” he said.
