On Tuesday, the US President Barack Obama arrived in Poland with one billion dollars worth of measures to cement security of Central and Eastern Europe. The plan named European Reassurance Initiative might be interpreted as an initiative to pacify Europe or to restore its trust – and, doubtless, the step carries weight in helping us, in our corner of the world, to feel somewhat more serene towards the unpredictable Russia.
The plan is yet to be ratified by US Congress. As evident in details disclosed by today, the endeavour is quite to the tune of what we have heard before. US units arrive in Europe, to participate in exercises; NATO infrastructure and facilities needed to receive troops get a boost; probably, US warships will be sighted on seas near here. The plan includes closer military cooperation with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine not belonging to NATO.
Upon arrival in Warsaw, Mr Obama demonstratively spoke to the backdrop of US fighter planes and his overall aim seemed to be reassurance of US explicit dedication to do its ally duty – the rock-solidness of NATO collective defence. That an attack against a single member state means a firm response from all at once – that’ll be the main deterrence towards Russia or any other player interested in putting our alliance to the test. Nothing new in this restatement of Article 5; even so, somebody obviously needed to hear it. For as soon as this goes unmentioned for a while, public space develops headlines à la «Who would die for Narva?». Which make absolutely no sense. Not difficult for us to find as little-known spots in North America, regarding which we might then ask how any German, Brit or Californian might be willing to lay down his life for a small town in Wisconsin, or Saskatchewan.
The speech by Mr Obama, in Warsaw yesterday, struck a chord much more major. The sentence «Estonia will never stand alone!» is music to our ears, as well as his reference to the Baltic Chain. And do pay attention to the lines in the speech where the US President pledges to bring into Europe extra troops in air, sea and land. Even so, Poland would have preferred to hear things more definite, and an explicit promise to move a larger US base in Europe over into Poland.
One billion dollars, mainly to be spent within the US troops, is nothing giant in the US context (while we remember that this was what Facebook paid to buy the Instagram photo app). Surely, East-Europe/USA dialogue on how to boost our defence capabilities as quickly, effectively and sustainably as possible is worth continuing. Clearly, Europe also will have to increase its input – especially the states falling under 2 percent of GDP for defence spending.