NATO Chief Quietly Exits Stage Left As Russia, China Make Some Bold Statements

ER Editor: UPDATE – Putin is deadly serious about Ukraine not becoming part of NATO expansion along its borders and is pulling no punches about it to Macron on his visit to the Kremlin. See this RT piece titled Russia & France could go to war, Putin warns Macron. That’s what would happen if Ukraine joins NATO, the Russian president has said

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See this from politico.eu, Russia, China call for halt to NATO enlargement. Noteworthy is the very bold combining of two geopolitical heavyweights, Russia and China, in defense of Putin’s recent insistence that NATO must move no further toward sovereign Russian territory, and in defense of China’s own geopolitical interests. NATO has thus no influence:

“Friendship between the two States has no limits [and that] there are no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation,” says the lengthy statement, which puts in writing the deepening of diplomatic ties between the two major powers, amid military tensions at the Ukrainian border where Russia has amassed 100,000 troops.

The statement does not mention Ukraine (or the European Union), but makes clear references to the current crisis: “Russia and China stand against attempts by external forces to undermine security and stability in their common adjacent regions, intend to counter interference by outside forces in the internal affairs of sovereign countries under any pretext, oppose colour revolutions, and will increase cooperation in the aforementioned areas,” the document reads.

The U.S. is mentioned several times and is criticized over the AUKUS alliance in the Indo-Pacific region. “The sides … remain highly vigilant about the negative impact of the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy on peace and stability in the region,” the statement reads.

Moscow also reiterated its opposition to “any forms of independence of Taiwan.” China considers the self-ruling island to be part of its territory.

Then we get word of NATO head Jens Stoltenberg bailing out for a (safer?) job, held open for him for 6 months while his tenure expires at NATO. What’s really the future of NATO here?

See also this from politico.eu, NATO’s Stoltenberg to become Norway’s next central bank chief. Of note in relation to the independence of the Norwegian Central Bank, noted below:

Stoltenberg faced stiff competition for his new post from the current deputy central bank governor Ida Wolden Bache, who will lead the institution until the new governor takes over.

Wolden Bache’s supporters said her long experience of monetary policy made her better suited to the top job than Stoltenberg, whom they argue is too politically close to the current Norwegian government to defend the independence of the central bank. Current Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre took over as head of the Social Democratic Party from Stoltenberg and the two are seen as close.

The tectonic plates of military alliances seem to be shifting, perhaps to NATO’s disadvantage. The new AUKUS formation is primarily a US / UK / Australian alliance while NATO is predominantly European. Their faithful servant, Stoltenberg, has been given an exit strategy. What does this bode for the future of Europe as a united military and geopolitical force? Perhaps not much. 

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NATO chief gets another job

Jens Stoltenberg will take the top post at the Norwegian Central Bank after finishing his term at the military organization

RT

Norwegian authorities named Jens Stoltenberg, the current NATO secretary general, as the new Central Bank governor on Friday. The current chief, Oystein Olsen, will resign on March 1, and Stoltenberg will take over only after his mandate as NATO chief expires this September.

Jens Stoltenberg © Christian Marquardt – Pool / Getty Images

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