Sun, 09 Jul 2023

NATO’s unity will be tested

at annual summit in Lithuania

By some measures,

the Ukraine conflict has reinvigorated NATO

which was created at the beginning of

the Cold War as a bulwark against Moscow. (AP)

World’s biggest security alliance is struggling to

reach an agreement on admitting Sweden as its 32nd member

WASHINGTON: As the

Russian invasion of Ukraine continues with no end in sight,

NATO’s much-celebrated unity faces fresh strains

when leaders gather for their annual summit this week in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The world’s biggest security alliance is struggling to

reach an agreement on admitting Sweden as its 32nd member.

Military spending by member nations still lags behind longstanding goals.

And an inability to compromise over who should serve as NATO’

s next leader forced an extension of

the current secretary general’s term for an extra year.