The High North: Winter is Going

Hear directly from the defense minister of Estonia and the foreign ministers of Spain and Czechia. We caught up with these high-level ministers on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 75th Anniversary Summit in Washington, D.C. this summer. Our conversation highlights the urgency for NATO allies to increase military spending and support Ukraine amidst the ongoing conflict with Russia. Delve into the significance of past NATO summits on U.S. politics and the growing security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region, showcasing the interconnectedness of global threats and the importance of transatlantic solidarity.
In this episode, we’ll explore NATO’s southern and eastern flanks in exclusive interviews that J. Alex Tarquinio, our host in The Delegates Lounge, held with Estonia’s Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur, Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, and Czechia’s Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský. Each of the ministers emphasized the global nature of security threats today, and how what happens in the Middle East and even as far off as the Indo-Pacific region affects the security of the Transatlantic alliance. We also spoke about the use of sanctions. This was before the new set of sanctions imposed by the United States on August 23rd on hundreds of businesses and business people to counteract what Washington describes as sanctions evasion, which we discuss in the introduction to the episode.

Speakers:

J. Alex Tarquinio (host). @alextarquinio of @delegateslounge on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Hanno Pevkur, Estonia’s Defense Minister (guest). @HPevkur of @MoD_Estonia on X, formerly known as Twitter.

José Manuel Albares, Spain’s Foreign Minister (guest). @jmalbares of @SpainMFA on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Jan Lipavský, Czechia’s Foreign Minister (guest). @JanLipavsky of @CzechMFA on X, formerly known as Twitter.

References:

The NATO Washington Summit Declaration referred to the People’s Republic of China as a “decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine” and to Ukraine’s “irreversible” path towards NATO membership.

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_227678.htm

This year, NATO estimates that 23 of the 32 member states will reach the goal of spending at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_226465.htm

A few days before attending the NATO Washington Summit, Japan announced that it would work with Cambodia on a project to bolster Ukraine’s training and equipment for demining operations.

https://apnews.com/article/japan-cambodia-demining-ukraine-278a7c572b93ee3e9b4d1aa4c912a672

On August 23, the United States imposed new sanctions on around 400 companies and individuals — both inside and outside of Russia — that Washington accuses of enabling the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine by supporting Moscow’s military-industrial base.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2546

https://www.state.gov/new-measures-to-degrade-russias-wartime-economy/