Tag: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

NATO has 32 member countries. NATO Allies are sovereign states that come together to discuss political and security issues and make collective decisions by consensus.

PM Mark Carney announces Canada has achieved the NATO 2% defence spending target

The 2 percent of GDP defence spending target is a foundation for an even  stronger, more independent, more secure Canada.

Prime Minister Carney announced Thursday, 2026,03.26, more than $3 billion in infrastructure and defence-related investments across Atlantic Canada:

  • In Nova Scotia, targeted investments to modernize critical infrastructure, build new facilities to support the next generation of naval and air fleets, and expand training and operational capacity. Canada is investing:

Trump’s threats to NATO reveal glaring absence of any strategy on Iran

Dan Sabbagh, the Guardian’s defence and security editor, writes:

If there was a moment when the absence of a US strategy on Iran was exposed, then this was it. Donald Trump demanded on Saturday that the UK, China, France, Japan and others participate in a naval escort for oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz.

Despite launching the attack on Iran, with Israel, the White House does not seem to have fully anticipated what was likely to follow. Iran had few good military options for fighting back, but attacking US bases, US allies and merchant shipping in the Gulf was the most obvious response – to try to impose costs on the west.

…

Trump, fixated on military power, had no particular desire to work with any country other than Israel – and none wanted to join in starting a war against Iran. As a result, naval preparation by US allies before the start of the war was nonexistent. None of Britain, France, China and Japan had warships ready to take up convoy duties.

For any escort operation to be viable, it might require eight to 10 destroyers, according to Richard Meade, the editor-in-chief of Lloyd’s List, though that would be enough to protect only “five to 10 vessels, making a transit every day and a half”. That would amount to about 10% of prewar shipping volumes.

European Parliament calls for deeper EU-Canada cooperation to tackle security threats and boost trade amid rising geopolitical tensions

Given the current turmoil in the international order, the EU must elevate its strategic partnership with Canada to a new level, Members of the European Parliament say, pointing to shared interests and values.

In a report adopted on Wednesday, 2026.03.11, MEPs called for deeper EU-Canada cooperation to tackle security threats and boost trade amid rising geopolitical tensions.

To address security threats such as Russia’s war against Ukraine, hybrid attacks, terrorism, foreign interference and China’s assertiveness and economic coercion, MEPs call for increased cooperation with Canada. They stress the need to implement the security and defence partnership in full, complementing NATO’s efforts through initiatives such as Security Action for Europe (SAFE) and the ReArm Europe plan/Defence Readiness 2030.

More at the European Parliament Press Release: Stronger EU-Canada partnership amid global turmoil

Faced with a growing Russian threat, German and British military chiefs make the case for rearmament

The defence chief of Germany’s Bundeswehr, General Carsten Breuer, and the United Kingdom’s chief of the defence staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, have made an unprecedented joint statement, published in The Guardian and German newspaper Die Welt, in which they make their “moral” case for rearmament and prepare for the threat of war with Russia.

Published in the wake of the Munich Security Conference, Breuer and Knighton said they were speaking “not merely as the military leaders of two of Europe’s largest military spenders, but as voices for a Europe that must now confront uncomfortable truths about its security.”

Continue reading “Faced with a growing Russian threat, German and British military chiefs make the case for rearmament”

The US ambassador to NATO claims the US is not out to dismantle NATO or undermine world order

In response to the Munich Security Report 2026, Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, is defended the US against criticism that the Trump administration’s shift in thinking about its global policies poses a real challenge to the liberal international order.

Source:

The Guardian: US not trying to dismantle NATO or undermine current world order, US ambassador says in response to MSC’s criticism report https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/feb/09/europe-eu-jimmy-lai-ukraine-russia-us-portugal-latest-news-updates

Elsewhere:

Munich Security Report 2026: https://securityconference.org/en/publications/munich-security-report/2026/

MSC Report asserts Europe needs to be more assertive and militarily independent from the US administration https://natsec.ca/2026/munich-security-report-warns-europe-assertive-militarily-independent-from-us/

NATO chief’s Trump flattery strains the alliance

Trump rocked European allies this month by threatening to seize Greenland from NATO and EU member Denmark. The crisis has reinforced calls for the European continent to cut its decades-long reliance on the US for defences.

Politico spoke to more than a dozen NATO insiders, diplomats, and current and former colleagues of NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte. They described a leader admired as a skilled crisis manager who recently pulled off a win on Greenland, but at the cost of deepening European unease about NATO’s long-term future.

Continue reading “NATO chief’s Trump flattery strains the alliance”

France sends flagship aircraft carrier into North Atlantic as European leaders close ranks over Greenland and tensions test NATO unity

The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle set sail from the Mediterranean port of Toulon.

French officials declined to give precise details of its route, sources said the carrier strike group is heading into the North Atlantic,

Continue reading “France sends flagship aircraft carrier into North Atlantic as European leaders close ranks over Greenland and tensions test NATO unity”

NATO’s security general says Europe cannot defend itself without the US

“If anyone thinks here … that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming,” NATO chief Mark Rutte told lawmakers on the European Parliament’s defence and foreign affairs committees. “You can’t.”

Rutte then went on to criticize NATO allies. A “European pillar [of NATO] is a bit of an empty word,” arguing a European army would create “a lot of duplication” with the alliance. Moreover, Russian President Vladimir “Putin will love it,” Rutte added.

Continue reading “NATO’s security general says Europe cannot defend itself without the US”

British security expert Edward Lucas says NATO cannot rely on the United States

Lucas believes “NATO is dying,” comparing it to a “marriage where you have one of the partners in the marriage using threats of violence and mocking the other partner for being trusting and idealistic.”

British security expert Edward Lucas: 'We can't rely on the United States' | DW News

Source: Deutsche Welle (DW)

Some Canadian military personnel are subject to Trump’s orders [Updated]

Canada and the US have exchanged military personnel for decades. Beyond joint task-forces, intelligence sharing, and organizations like NATO and NORAD, Canada’s DND also regularly sends members of the CAF on exchange programs with US military units, sometimes for years.

Canadian Brigadier-General Robert McBride is the deputy commanding general of operations for the US 11th Airborne Division in Alaska. His role in a division waiting to support US ICE is a pointed example of how Canadian military personnel are caught awkwardly between Trump’s orders, Canada’s military mandate, Canadian law, and public opinion.

Continue reading “Some Canadian military personnel are subject to Trump’s orders [Updated]”