08 October 2015•Update: 09 October 2015
BRUSSELS
NATO chief has announced the doubling of its quick response joint multinational force and the establishment of two new alliance headquarters in Hungary and Slovakia as Russia “escalates” its military presence in Syria.
Addressing a press conference after a NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: "We now have everything in place to make the Response Force stronger, faster and more capable. This force will count up to 40,000 troops.
"That’s twice as many troops as the current level of troops in the NATO Response Force and the ‘Spearhead Force’ will be able to start deploying in as little as 48 hours," Stoltenberg said, adding that two new NATO headquarters would also be established in Hungary and Slovakia.
According to the official NATO website, the NATO Response Force was launched in 2002, which “consists of a highly capable joint multinational force [made up of land, air, maritime and Special Operations Forces components that is] able to react in a very short time to the full range of security challenges from crisis management to collective defense”.
In 2014, the alliance decided to enhance the NATO Response Force by creating a “Spearhead Force within it, known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force”.
The NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels comes days after a Russian jet violated Turkish air space on its border with Syria over the weekend. Moscow indicated Monday that its fighter jet violated Turkish air space due to "bad weather conditions".
Linking Russia’s violation of Turkish airspace to Moscow’s increased military activity in Syria and emphasizing the need for NATO to protect its allies, Stoltenberg called for a political solution in Syria.
"A political solution to the crisis in Syria is more needed than ever; NATO supports effort of UN to find solution to crisis," he said.
"We see an escalation of Russian military activity in Syria; [NATO defense] ministers agreed Russia’s military escalation in Syria raises serious concerns," he said.
"I call on Russia to play a constructive role in the fight against ISIL [Daesh], but Russian actions and support to the regime are not helpful," Stoltenberg said.
He reiterated his strong opposition to Russia’s violation of Turkish air space. "The recent violations of Turkish airspace are unacceptable," he said.
The NATO chief also underlined his support for Turkey, which has the second largest army in NATO, saying the alliance was ready to deploy forces to protect the country’s borders against any threat if needed.
"Turkey is a strong ally…the important thing is they know they are part of NATO," Stoltenberg said. "Security guarantees are 100 percent; as long as we convey that message strongly then we are delivering our main responsibility to Turkey."
