NATO Shares Classified Weapons Recommendations With EU to Boost Defense Coordination

NATO has started sharing classified information about weapons standards with the European Union, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. According to them, the goal is to “harmonize” the military forces of NATO member countries and improve interoperability among allies.

Central to this is standardizing military terms, such as weapons calibers, for all members. It will also help the EU create common rules for military and shared-use systems, including the use of radio communications frequencies.

A NATO official said this is part of the alliance’s defense plan update. The review was initiated by NATO’s new leader, Mark Rutte, who took charge in October.

NATO is also giving defense companies classified recommendations on which weapons and equipment member countries need to produce. This is part of a plan to boost production, which Rutte calls a “shift to a wartime mindset.”

On Dec. 12, in his first major speech since taking office as NATO secretary-general, he urged alliance members to “turbo-charge” defense spending, saying European nations were not prepared for the threat of future war with Russia.

“We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years,” Rutte said. “Danger is moving towards us at full speed,” Rutte said. “What is happening in Ukraine could happen here, too.”

Other Topics of Interest

New Front? Reports Claim China is Secretly Backing Russia with Troops

With mounting losses on the battlefield, could China’s intervention shift the balance, or is it too late to change the course of the war?

The former Dutch prime minister insisted there was no “imminent military threat,” but said NATO needed to move “faster and fiercer” to bulk up defenses and stave off the risk of future conflict.

“We can prevent the next big war on NATO territory,” he said.

EU diplomatic chief Kaja Kallas said that Russia may target a European Union country as early as 2028.

Speaking at the annual European Defense Agency (EDA) conference on Jan. 23, Kallas cited national intelligence reports suggesting the Kremlin plans to “test” the EU’s defense capabilities within the next 3-5 years.

While Kallas did not elaborate on the specifics of Russia’s potential aggression, she said that the EU needs to strengthen military readiness, given that Russian President Vladimir Putin “only understands the language of force.”

“For too long we have offered Russia alternatives, hoping that it would choose cooperation or economic prosperity for its people over fraudulent imperialistic ambitions. But instead, Russia’s defense industry is turning out tanks, glide bombs, and artillery shells in vast quantities.”