Defining plans for a “resumption” of NATO, Stoltenberg said he now had 40,000 troops under his direct command in the eastern part of the alliance – almost 10 times the number he had just a few months before the invasion. But he added: “What we are seeing now is a new reality, a new regularity for European security. Therefore, we have now asked our military commanders to provide options for what we call a resumption, a longer-term NATO adjustment. “I expect NATO leaders to make decisions on this when they meet in Madrid at the NATO summit in June.” Prior to February 24, NATO’s presence on its eastern border with Russia was tantamount to a so-called “tripwire” force, which was intended to signal the alliance’s intention to defend itself against an attack. In the event of an attack on countries such as Latvia and Estonia, which border Russia, reinforcements from across the alliance would have been called for. But now NATO is preparing to have a permanent presence on its eastern flank of such a scale that it could defend the alliance against a Russian attack.
