NATO generals confront Russian pressure and US withdrawal fears

NATO’s military leaders are meeting in Copenhagen to address Russian hybrid warfare and uncertainty over a possible US troop withdrawal from Europe, Danish broadcaster DR reports.

Denmark’s Chief of Defence, Michael Hyldgaard, is hosting the alliance’s annual conference of defence chiefs and military leaders at the Bella Centre, a conference venue in Copenhagen.

The generals are tasked with translating decisions made by NATO leaders at the political summit in Turkey earlier this summer into concrete action. Their agenda includes support for Ukraine and military equipment purchases, but several other urgent issues will also dominate the meeting.

Russia tests NATO every day

The conference is taking place in the same week that a Russian missile corvette fired signal flares close to a Danish military helicopter on a routine mission in the Baltic Sea. The incident is presented as a clear example of the hybrid warfare challenging the alliance.

Russia is trying almost every day to push the limits of what it can do before NATO responds, according to Sten Rynning, a NATO expert and professor of international politics at the University of Southern Denmark.

“NATO is being tested. Every day, Russia tests the alliance’s unity to see how far it can go in provoking and disrupting Europe without it being regarded as conventional war,” Rynning said.

He said the campaign risks undermining the alliance’s foundation: its unity and the treaty principle that an attack on one member is an attack on all.

If NATO members cannot agree on when Russian actions are serious enough to trigger a joint response, the value of that unity will be weakened, Rynning said. He expects the defence chiefs to discuss how the alliance can respond together, potentially through cyber operations or other measures that would not be made public in order to avoid further escalation.

US questionnaire raises concern in Europe

A written questionnaire from the Pentagon is also expected to feature prominently at the meeting. All European NATO countries received detailed questions about their military capabilities and plans after the summer, and are believed to have returned completed responses.

The questionnaire is reportedly intended to help form the basis of a US plan to withdraw forces from Europe. Rynning described it as a “shock manoeuvre” that has heightened fears that the withdrawal could happen too quickly.

European countries are concerned that the United States could reduce its military presence before they are strong enough to defend themselves, leaving them vulnerable to Russia. The implications of the questionnaire and the potential withdrawal are therefore among the issues the defence chiefs are expected to discuss in Copenhagen.