NATO

MADRID – Russian troops poured into Ukraine on the morning of Feb. 24, invading by land and sea as airstrikes rained down on cities, in an all-out attack unlike anything seen in Europe since the Second World War.

The months that followed have left thousands dead, millions more displaced, led to famine and fuel shortages and fundamentally changed the world order.

Now the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is prepared to embark on the greatest overhaul of the alliance’s deterrence capabilities since the Cold War at a leaders’ summit in Spain, but Canada’s role in the new defence strategy remains uncertain.

Justin could volunteer as the gender consultant.

Just when, after years of idling around, NATO appears to be gaining some strategic prominence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the only Muslim member of the alliance is holding 29 other members as hostage, blocking the most critical move in its history. Surrendering to an Islamist’s well-known oriental bargaining tactics will mean the demise of the alliance.

In a historic move, Sweden and Finland recently submitted their written applications to join NATO but Turkey’s Islamist strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is threatening to use his country’s veto power to block the Nordic nations coming under the Western security umbrella. This is putting NATO’s renewed credibility at stake, presumably to the delight of NATO’s nemesis, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

If you’ve been following the news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, you probably already heard about a potentially significant fly that just dropped into the ointment of Findland and Sweden’s expected applications to join NATO. The fly in this case is Turkish tyrant Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Once the news broke of not only the two nations’ inclinations to join, but Russia’s threats to respond “militarily,” Erdogan stepped up to the microphone and said that Turkey is “not favorable” toward allowing those two countries to join.