NATO countries have put forces on alert and sent ships and fighter planes to reinforce defenses in Eastern Europe against Russian military activity on Ukraine’s borders, the Atlantic Alliance announced this Monday.

In a statement released in Brussels, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), of which Portugal is a member, reports on ongoing and future reinforcement of resources in the region by Denmark, Spain, France, the Netherlands, and the United States. United.

“NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all Allies, including through strengthening the Eastern part of the Alliance. We will always respond to any deterioration in our security environment, including strengthening our collective defense,” says NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, quoted in the statement.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE AFTER RUSSIAN MILITARY MOBILIZATION

Russia has concentrated around 100,000 troops on its border with Ukraine in recent months, prompting the US and NATO allies to accuse Moscow of intending to re-invade the neighboring country after having occupied and annexed Crimea in 2014.

According to the statement released this Monday by the Atlantic Alliance, Denmark “is sending a frigate to the Baltic Sea and is preparing to send four F-16 fighter jets to Lithuania to support NATO’s long-standing air policing mission. in the region”.

“Spain is sending ships to join NATO’s naval forces and is considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria,” says the Alliance, quoted by France-Presse news agency.

As for France, “it expressed its readiness to send troops to Romania under the command of NATO”.

“The Netherlands is sending two F-35 fighter jets to Bulgaria from April to support NATO air policing activities in the region, and is putting a ship and ground units on alert for the NATO Response Force.” , reads in the declaration.

NATO also says that the US “has also made it clear that it intends to increase its military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance”.

ATTACHMENT OF CRIMEA STRENGTHENED ALARMS

In the statement, NATO recalls that since the “illegal annexation” of Crimea by Russia in 2014, the Atlantic Alliance has “increased its presence in the eastern part” with four multinational battle groups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.

“These units, led respectively by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and the United States are multinational and combat-ready,” says the Alliance.

“Its presence makes it clear that an attack on an ally will be considered an attack on the entire Alliance,” he warns.

The Brussels-based organization adds that there were no NATO forces in the eastern part of the Alliance before 2014.

STATES BEGIN TO PREVENT THREATS

The announcement of the reinforcement of NATO forces coincides with the announcement by the United States and the United Kingdom that they have authorized the departure of officials from their embassies in Kyiv from Ukraine, in the face of the growing threat of an invasion by Russia.

The European Union’s Foreign Ministers are meeting this Monday, in Brussels, to discuss the security situation in Ukraine, with the meeting with the participation, by videoconference, of the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

Portugal is represented at the meeting by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva.

Source: with agencies