Brussels (dpa) – The planned NATO command centre for coordinating weapons deliveries and training activities for the Ukrainian armed forces will be based in Germany. It will be located in the Hessian capital Wiesbaden, as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Friday following a meeting of Alliance defence ministers in Brussels. That is also where the US armed forces are based in Europe, which have been coordinating activities to date.
So far, the United States has been in charge of the support. To this end, the US had set up a unit of around 300 soldiers – the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine (SAG-U) – at the European headquarters of the US armed forces in Wiesbaden in late 2022.
Hungary will not take part in the new NATO project. The country’s government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, fears that the project could lead to direct confrontation between the Alliance and Russia. For this reason, numerous other NATO states had also been very hesitant two years ago. They vetoed any more pronounced NATO support. Attitudes have changed in the meantime, however, and most NATO states believe it to be a calculated risk.
Based on the agreed operational plan, further preparations for the project can now move forward. Ideally, the project is to be officially launched in July, when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the other 31 NATO leaders will be meeting for a summit in Washington.
