MADRID
\nPresident Joe Biden on Wednesday announced US reinforcements of NATO forces in Europe, saying the alliance is needed more today \u201cthan it ever has been.\u201d
\nNATO will be \u201cstrengthened in all directions across every domain \u2014 land, air and sea,\u201d he told a summit of the transatlantic alliance being held in Madrid.
\nBiden, who was meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, said the extra forces included: Boosting the fleet of US naval destroyers from four to six in Rota, Spain, a permanent headquarters in Poland of the 5th Army Corps, and an \u201cadditional rotational brigade\u201d in Romania, consisting of \u201c3,000 fighters and another 2,000-personnel combat team.\u201d
\nOther forces vowed were enhanced rotational deployments in the Baltic countries, two additional squadrons of the F-35 stealth plane to Britain, as well as \u201cadditional air defense and other capabilities in Germany and in Italy.\u201d
\n\u201cTogether with our allies we\u2019re going to make sure that NATO is ready to meet the threats from all directions across every domain,\u201d Biden said.
\n\u201cIn a moment where (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has shattered peace in Europe and attacked the very, very tenets of rule-based order, the United States and our allies, we\u2019re going to step up,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re stepping up, proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been and it\u2019s important as it ever has been.\u201d
\nReferring to NATO unity on accepting the applications of previously neutral Finland and Sweden to join the alliance, Biden said Putin\u2019s strategy in invading Ukraine had backfired.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s exactly what he didn\u2019t want but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe,\u201d Biden said.
\nStoltenberg commented that the expansion of NATO was \u201cthe opposite\u201d of what Putin hoped for.
\nA White House statement detailing the reinforcements said that in the Baltics, \u201cwe will maintain persistent, heel-to-toe presence in the region and will intensify training.\u201d
\nThis will include \u201carmored, aviation, air defense, and special operations forces, building further interoperability and intensified training with these allies, and enhancing our ability to quickly reinforce and provide combat-credible defenses.\u201d
\nThe additions to the US presence are part of a much wider expansion of NATO capabilities being announced in Madrid, as well as a new strategic blueprint which will highlight the threat from Russia but for the first time also name China as a challenge.
\nWhite House spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the US military expansion in Europe comes on top of reinforcements already sent in the wake of Russia\u2019s Ukraine invasion.
\n\u201cSince the invasion itself, (Biden) ordered the deployment or extension of over 20,000 additional forces to Europe in response to the crisis, all across the domains… which brought our total to over 100,000 service members across Europe,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MADRID President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced US reinforcements of NATO forces in Europe, saying the alliance is needed more today \u201cthan it ever has been.\u201d NATO will be \u201cstrengthened in all directions across every domain \u2014 land, air and sea,\u201d he told a summit of the transatlantic alliance being held in Madrid. Biden, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[721,503,9163,6868],"class_list":{"0":"post-268846","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-europe","9":"tag-joe-biden","10":"tag-military-reinforcements","11":"tag-us-president"},"yoast_head":"\n