Image: SIMON WOHLFAHRT (AFP)
A NATO diplomat said Turkey blocked a deal. The goal of the department heads was to develop a defense plan for the case of an attack from Russia for the first time since the end of the Cold War. The trigger for the strategic reorientation was the attack on Ukraine.
Turkey has vetoed because of geographic determinations, the diplomat said. Cyprus also played a role in this. The Mediterranean island is divided into a Greek and a Turkish part. In contrast to the Greek Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish part is not internationally recognized. However, the USA expects Turkey to give up its resistance. The plans are expected to be finalized at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, a senior US official told Reuters.
Actually, the defense ministers in Brussels should approve thousands of pages of secret military plans. They detail how NATO would respond to a Russian attack. For decades, the alliance saw no need for large-scale defense plans, as post-Soviet Russia no longer posed an existential threat.
Source: Nachrichten
