– These are wise and good proposals to make support for Ukraine more sustainable and effective. For Ukraine, it is also a clear step on the road to NATO membership, says State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Eivind Vad Petersson (Ap).
He represents Norway at the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.
100 billion euros corresponds to close to NOK 1,200 billion. Norway’s share of this could reach NOK 200 billion.
– Shift focus
It is the NATO chief himself who is said to have put forward the proposal, which has circulated among the alliance’s member states in recent days.
The situation on the battlefield in Ukraine is now so serious that support for Ukraine must be stepped up and anchored in NATO, so that it is not affected by changing political winds, believes Stoltenberg.
– We must shift the focus from short-term promises of support to long-term commitments, he says.
– Doing more under NATO’s leadership will make the support more effective. We need more and fresh money for Ukraine. And we need it for years to come, says Stoltenberg.
A possible decision on such a fund will be taken at the summit in July.
The fund is also intended as a clear warning to Russia’s Vladimir Putin that NATO has no plans to give up its support for Ukraine.
Line break
However, the proposal involves a major change of policy for NATO.
In order to ensure as much distance as possible between NATO and the war in Ukraine, the coordination of military support has until now been left to the member states.
However, Vad Petersson does not fear that Russia can use NATO’s increased role as an argument in the war.
– For months, if not years, Moscow has claimed that they are at war with NATO and the West, he says.
NATO’s “Nansen package”
The proposal may be reminiscent of the Norwegian Nansen programme, where NOK 75 billion has been set aside for Ukraine, spread over five years.
– For us in the government, it was a very important point to get the Storting to commit to a five-year programme. And in all our conversations with Zelenskyj (President of Ukraine, editor’s note) and his people, this is always what they highlight. And then it’s very nice to see that more people are signing up for the multi-year line, says Vad Petersson.
At the same time, this means that money set aside for the Nansen program can go to the new NATO fund as part of Norway’s contribution, says the state secretary.
Supported by several
A number of countries expressed support for Stoltenberg’s plans on Wednesday. Among them is Denmark, while NATO’s newest member, Sweden, is “cautiously positive”, according to Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.
Germany believes it is “essential” to build up a credible and long-term structure around support for Ukraine.
Estonia goes even further and believes that all NATO member states should allocate 0.25 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to Ukraine.
Stoltenberg’s proposal also means that the US leaves the management of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, also called the Ramstein group, to NATO.
