{"id":81136,"date":"2023-07-14T15:45:29","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T05:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=81136"},"modified":"2023-07-14T16:29:57","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T06:29:57","slug":"and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/","title":{"rendered":"And it\u2019s over? Outcomes of the NATO summit in Vilnius"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

In the build-up to the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the sense of history was palpable. The original NATO construct of 12 members, formed in 1949, is now 31 and will soon be 32 with Sweden\u2019s accession. The alliance has endured plenty of instability in its lifetime, through the Cold War, the Suez crisis, the encircling of West Berlin and much more. Russia\u2019s unrelenting 17-month war in Ukraine, a clear eye on China\u2019s coercive behaviour and internal disagreements about the organisation\u2019s role in the Indo-Pacific gave a sense of urgency and occasion to the summit, including for Australia.<\/p>\n

The meeting was geared to tackle tough challenges, including Sweden\u2019s and Ukraine\u2019s bids for membership; security commitments to Ukraine, as a member or not; budgetary and preparedness challenges; future leadership, the Moscow\u2013Beijing partnership; and Europe\u2019s relationship with the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n

There were initial doubts about whether Anthony Albanese would attend the summit and considerable speculation about what support Australia might provide Ukraine.<\/p>\n

That conjecture was\u00a0likely\u00a0prolonged\u00a0due to the government\u2019s\u00a0wish\u00a0to save\u00a0\u2018announceables\u2019\u00a0for the\u00a0prime\u00a0minister\u2019s European trip\u2014while\u00a0the additions to Australia\u2019s support may have been a consequence of\u00a0public criticism of the assistance package announced last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most of the uncertainties heading into the summit, including Australia\u2019s ongoing support for Ukraine, were resolved. So how did it all end? Well, Sweden is in and Jens Stoltenberg has been extended as the organisation\u2019s secretary-general, consistent with a view that NATO is only getting started with its support for Ukraine, not showing the fatigue about which so many had been concerned. Predictably, though, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is disappointed.<\/p>\n

The NATO summit communiqu\u00e9 reaffirmed the Bucharest decision to admit Ukraine as a member, but it declined to outline a clear pathway to membership. That drove the Ukrainian leader to describe the decision as \u2018unprecedented and absurd\u2019.<\/p>\n

The summit communiqu\u00e9 stated<\/a>: \u2018We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met.\u2019 The precise nature of those conditions is not yet clear, but the writing was on the wall before the summit when key allies such as Germany and the US expressed reservations.<\/p>\n

In some respects, it was a missed opportunity. Mapping out a pathway for Ukrainian membership should be part of a deterrence strategy to prevent Russia from thinking it will succeed merely by prolonging the war.<\/p>\n

While Ukraine is understandably disappointed, Zelensky was happier with the assistance packages, including the gifts pledged by Albanese.<\/p>\n

Recent Australian support has been provided in three tranches. In late June came the announcement of $110 million worth of military vehicles, ammunition and humanitarian assistance. On the eve of the Vilnius summit, the government revealed that a Royal Australian Air Force E7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft would be deployed to Germany to help watch over the supply lines for lethal and humanitarian aid heading to Ukraine. That highly sophisticated aircraft is likely to be capable of much more.<\/p>\n

The third in the trio of announcements came on the last day of the summit, when Albanese met with Zelensky and promised a further 30 Bushmaster armoured personnel carriers to help protect Ukrainian troops advancing across a mine- and bomb-strewn landscape.<\/p>\n

While the package appears piecemeal and aimed at driving announcements, heart should be taken from the broader Australian public\u2019s resolve for Ukraine and the government\u2019s willingness to listen and increase its support.<\/p>\n

But with no end to the conflict in sight, the Australian government now has the opportunity to evolve the current stop\u2013start approach and consider what a continued meaningful contribution to Ukraine looks like. That won\u2019t be easy, with the Department of Defence under significant financial pressure and the government insisting on the costs of supporting Ukraine being absorbed within Defence\u2019s existing budget. But it\u2019s a better approach than the current one of inadequate assistance, followed by public criticism and then more government support. Let\u2019s skip the first two parts.<\/p>\n

The one area of inconsistency centred on NATO\u2019s relationship with the Indo-Pacific. Australia\u2019s invitation to the summit as part of the Indo-Pacific four\u2014with Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand\u2014was significant. And, importantly, the NATO communiqu\u00e9 contained strong words on Beijing\u2019s coercive policies and subversion of the international rules-based order. In a sign of the ongoing global shift within NATO, the EU and many member states, Indo-Pacific security warranted a mention: \u2018The Indo-Pacific is important for NATO, given that developments in that region can directly affect Euro-Atlantic security.\u2019 This is a direct response to Beijing\u2019s military build-up and economic coercion.<\/p>\n

Yet the communiqu\u00e9 contained no mention of the plan, now in doubt, to open a NATO office in Japan. That outcome is likely to have followed French President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s objection, which unfortunately seems to be based on attempts to mollify China and not on precedent, given the existence of offices in other regions such as Africa.<\/p>\n

Regrettably, this shows tensions within the organisation on how to engage on Indo-Pacific security. That\u2019s even more disappointing given that the main holdout, France, is a Pacific power. In the face of this tension, it\u2019s vital that Australia not be silent and continue to be a proactive advocate of the inseparability of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security. The national interest demands a year-round strategy, not just annual visits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the build-up to the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the sense of history was palpable. The original NATO construct of 12 members, formed in 1949, is now 31 and will soon be 32 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1720,"featured_media":81142,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[325,56,261,714],"class_list":["post-81136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-europe","tag-indo-pacific","tag-nato","tag-ukraine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAnd it\u2019s over? Outcomes of the NATO summit in Vilnius | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"And it\u2019s over? Outcomes of the NATO summit in Vilnius | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the build-up to the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the sense of history was palpable. The original NATO construct of 12 members, formed in 1949, is now 31 and will soon be 32 ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-14T05:45:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-14T06:29:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/NATO-meeting.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"454\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Parker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Parker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/NATO-meeting.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/NATO-meeting.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":454},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/\",\"name\":\"And it\u2019s over? Outcomes of the NATO summit in Vilnius | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-14T05:45:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-14T06:29:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/2898ed049549ab4da571e11865dbe6c2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"And it\u2019s over? Outcomes of the NATO summit in Vilnius\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/2898ed049549ab4da571e11865dbe6c2\",\"name\":\"Jennifer Parker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddf66d49c96757addfa6764cf79ddf30?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddf66d49c96757addfa6764cf79ddf30?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jennifer Parker\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/jennifer-parker\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"And it\u2019s over? Outcomes of the NATO summit in Vilnius | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"And it\u2019s over? Outcomes of the NATO summit in Vilnius | The Strategist","og_description":"In the build-up to the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the sense of history was palpable. The original NATO construct of 12 members, formed in 1949, is now 31 and will soon be 32 ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2023-07-14T05:45:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-14T06:29:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":454,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/NATO-meeting.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jennifer Parker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jennifer Parker","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/NATO-meeting.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/NATO-meeting.jpg","width":680,"height":454},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/","name":"And it\u2019s over? Outcomes of the NATO summit in Vilnius | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2023-07-14T05:45:29+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-14T06:29:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/2898ed049549ab4da571e11865dbe6c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/and-its-over-outcomes-of-the-nato-summit-in-vilnius\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"And it\u2019s over? Outcomes of the NATO summit in Vilnius"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/2898ed049549ab4da571e11865dbe6c2","name":"Jennifer Parker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddf66d49c96757addfa6764cf79ddf30?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddf66d49c96757addfa6764cf79ddf30?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jennifer Parker"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/jennifer-parker\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1720"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81136"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81146,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81136\/revisions\/81146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}