Those 300,000 high-readiness NATO troops? ‘Concept,’ not reality.
By Michael Birnbaum and Emily Rauhala
June 29, 2022 at 6:46 p.m. EDT
On Monday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced plans to put 300,000 troops at high readiness as part of the “biggest overhaul of our collective defense and deterrence since the Cold War.”
By Wednesday, as NATO leaders gathered at a summit in Madrid, the vast new mobilization appeared to be more fearsome on paper than in reality, more of an aspiration than a dramatic new commitment to defend Europe.
Stoltenberg’s announcement caught the top defense officials of many NATO members off guard, leading them to question which of their forces, if any, were being included in the 300,000 figure.
“Maybe it’s number magic?” said one senior European defense official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about the confusion.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/29/those-300000-high-readiness-nato-troops-concept-not-reality/
