MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2022) The head of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said on Saturday that NATO began planning the expansion of the alliance near the Russian borders several years ago.
Earlier on Saturday, a meeting of the NATO Military Committee took place in Estonia, at which, among other things, Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Christopher Cavoli presented to NATO member countries his strategic considerations regarding NATO's actions on the eastern flank.
"We're talking about the biggest overhaul of our military structures since 1949. The planning for that started several years ago, but now we're implementing it," Bauer said at a press conference.
At the end of June, NATO leaders agreed on a plan for a significant build-up of the alliance's forces on the eastern flank by 2023 amid Russia's military operation in Ukraine. NATO said that it plans to increase the number of high-readiness forces on the eastern flank to more than 300,000 soldiers in the near future, as well as to increase the composition of combat groups to the brigade level. In addition, NATO countries pledged to increase defense spending.
