NATO eyes greater Middle Eastern influence amid rising tensions

NATO is actively seeking to strengthen ties with Middle Eastern countries as concern grows over instability, Javier Colomina, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood told foreign media.

Speaking at NATO headquarters in Brussels before his first official visit to Cairo, Colomina said discussions to shore up relations with the region had started last year but the Gaza war had given allies the necessary "political push" to step up regional engagement, Caliber.Az reports.

Colomina, a former Spanish diplomat who in 2021 was appointed NATO's deputy assistant secretary general for political affairs and security policy, has now been made the face of the alliance's diplomacy in the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel – regions where China and Russia are increasingly viewed as strategic competitors to western countries.

Some NATO members hold starkly differing views, from staunch Israel supporters, including the US and Germany, to harsh critics who have not labelled Hamas a terrorist organisation, such as Türkiye. While he concedes consensus on the Israel-Gaza war will be "impossible" to achieve at NATO, Colomina sees benefits in shared dialogue.

"I often say to my interlocutors that within the boundaries of their own foreign policy is where we need to work and usually we find middle ground," he said, adding "We are not just looking at the South because of the problems that come from the South but because we have a very honest and robust relationship with many of them, and that’s where I believe we can play a role," he said.

Colomina wants NATO "to be part of the conversation" on ending the fighting between Israel and Palestinians.

"It’s been very clear that we are supporting a ceasefire," he said of the alliance. "We support the protection of civilians. We believe there should be an end to the tragic consequences of the situation in Gaza. We’ll continue to support the effort others are doing in that sense and it’ll be certainly part of the conversations I’ll have in Egypt."