MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) — Statements made earlier by new NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg regarding the alliance's ability to deploy its army wherever it wants contradict the agreements outlined in the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security between Russia and NATO, a number of experts told RIA Novosti on Monday.
In an interview to Polish broadcaster TVP Info on Sunday, Stoltenberg claimed that NATO will make a decision regarding its so-called "spearhead" rapid reaction force next year, but even before that, the alliance still can deploy its troops wherever it wants.
NEW NATO SECRETARY GENERAL UNFAMILIAR WITH DOCUMENTS
Sergey Oznobischev, director of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Analysis argued that the new secretary general still does not understand specifics of his duties and most likely "did not familiarize himself with the existing documents, which are the basis of Russia-NATO relations."
"The information in these documents is very clear, and his predecessor [Anders Fogh] Rasmussen has stated that the fundamental Russia-NATO act of 1997 exists and NATO is not planning to violate the agreements. What Stoltenberg speaks about would be in fact a violation, as the act outlines that the alliance must not station troops permanently in the territories of its new member states," Oznobischev said.
Oznobischev hopes that Stoltenberg's assistants would soon clarify his claims, but added that if such statements did reflect NATO's new strategy, then "these are very serious changes in the strategy … It would give our politicians and military grounds to initiate a new campaign against NATO's hostility and accuse the alliance of aggressive intentions," he added.
MUTUAL COMMITMENTS STILL IN FORCE
At the same time, Dmitry Danilov, head of the department for European security at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences said that "from the legal point of view, it is hard to say whether the alliance's current actions comply with the obligations of the bloc in the context of fundamental documents, such as the Russia-NATO Act of 1997 and the Rome declaration."
"One of the points outlined there says that NATO obliges to restrain from expanding its military infrastructure to the east, and the sides take responsibility not to locate significant armed forces on the borders, meaning in the zones of actual contiguity," Danilov explained.
However, Danilov underscored that there is still no clear definition of "significant armed forces."
"No matter how long Russia insisted on clarifying a definition, NATO partners refused to do it. Now it is absolutely not clear, how the new actions of NATO, including those in the Baltic states, like staging military exercises, the scale of those drills, deploying new troops and so on … how does all of this actually fit with the commitments taken by NATO, which nobody canceled yet," Danilov concluded.
Relations between Russia and NATO have deteriorated amid the crisis in Ukraine. The alliance has repeatedly accused Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs, sending troops to Ukraine, and went as far as to claim that Moscow planned to invade Ukraine. However, none of these statements have been supported with any evidence.
On April 1, NATO ended its cooperation with Russia, only maintaining contacts at the ambassadorial and higher levels.
Following Crimea's reunification with Russia in March, NATO has boosted its military presence close to Russia's border, specifically in Poland and the former Soviet Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Russia has repeatedly expressed concern over NATO's increased military presence in the country's neighboring states.
