BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that the military alliance will increase the size of its rapid reaction forces nearly eightfold to 300,000 troops as part of its response to an \u201cera of strategic competition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NATO response force currently has about 40,000 soldiers which can deploy quickly when needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Coupled with other measures including the deployment of forces to defend specific allies, Stoltenberg said the move is part of the \u201cbiggest overhaul of collective defense and deterrence since the Cold War.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stoltenberg made the remarks at a press conference ahead of a NATO summit later this week in Madrid when the 30 allies are expected to also agree on further support to Ukraine in its war against Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stoltenberg said he expects allies to make clear they consider Russia \u201cas the most significant and direct threat to our security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In NATO\u2019s new strategic concept, the alliance is also expected to address for the first time the security challenges posed by China, Stoltenberg said. In Madrid, allies will discuss how to respond to the growing influence of Russia and China in their \u201csouthern neighborhood,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stoltenberg said allies will agree to deliver further military support to Ukraine when they convene in Spain, with NATO members set to adopt a \u201cstrengthened comprehensive assistance package,\u201d including deliveries of secure communication and anti-drone systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the long term, Stoltenberg said allies aim to help Ukraine transition from Soviet-era armaments to modern NATO equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another central theme at the NATO summit will be the possibility for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NATO member Turkey has so far blocked the applications, citing what it considers to be the two countries\u2019 soft approach to organizations Turkey considers to be terrorist, such as the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party, or PKK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turkey is demanding that Sweden and Finland grant extradition requests for individuals who are wanted by Turkish authorities. Ankara claims the countries are harboring PKK members as well as people it says are linked to a failed 2016 coup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turkey also wants assurances that arms restrictions imposed by the two countries over Turkey\u2019s 2019 military incursion into northern Syria will be removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stoltenberg said that Turkish president Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and the Swedish prime minister Magdalena Andersson have agreed to meet on the sidelines of the summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have worked hard since Finland and Sweden applied for membership to ensure that they can join the alliance as soon as possible,\u201d Stoltenberg said. \u201cI will not make any promises, but I can assure you that we are working actively to ensure progress because the application of Finland and Sweden to join NATO, they are historic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NATO’s secretary general says the alliance wants to increase the number of its rapid reaction forces from the current 40,000 to over 300,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":76293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":12,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,23,89,12,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1355],"class_list":["post-58846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"P7B2L7W42JEKBEBXZTMY63IG5Q","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/2022\/06\/27\/nato-to-boost-reaction-force-ukraine-support\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n