NATO PA Calls for Tougher NATO Response to Halt Tech Leakage

MONTREAL – NATO Allies must take tougher steps to ensure that sensitive technology does not fall into the hands of Russia, China, and other strategic competitors at a time of heightened geostrategic rivalry, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly warned Saturday. 

“Maintaining NATO and Allied technological superiority is paramount in a security environment characterised by renewed strategic competition between democratic allies and autocratic powers,” said a resolution adopted by the Assembly’s Economic and Security Committee (ESC). 

It called on Alliance governments “to enforce existing and secondary sanctions and export restrictions relating to military  technology  and increase cooperation relating to the development of appropriate measures to increase the economic resiliency of the Alliance in the face of  strategic competition from countries such as Russia and China.” 

The resolution was among several due for adoption at the NATO PA’s annual session which opened Friday in Montreal.  

The four-day meeting draws legislators from Allied and partner nations to provide policy guidance for NATO leaders as they work to strengthen the Alliance in response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and other pressing security challenges. 

The resolution also noted that “Effective technology export control regimes require coalitions among Allies and partners collectively working to ensure comprehensive restrictions that restrict rivals’ access to militarily sensitive technologies”. 

It further urged Allies to coordinate export controls on emerging dual-use technologies; collaborate more closely with partners in the Indo-Pacific to secure key supply chains; and dedicate more resources to counter technology leakage through trade, investments in Western firms by strategic competitors, smuggling and espionage.  

A separate report adopted by the ESC cautioned that gaps in international sanctions “have given Russia opportunities to generate income to finance its war.” Allies and partners “need to establish far more effective enforcement regimes” including with secondary sanctions on countries re-exporting proscribed goods to Russia, and criminal penalties for sanctions-busters.  

“Too many smugglers and intermediaries feel that they can act with impunity to make quick profits,” said the report drafted by Hungarian lawmaker Tamas Harangozo. “The downside risks are far too low to compel behaviour change. Allies and partners need to alter that equation quickly and dramatically.” 

NATO PA members warned of the potential implications of Russia’s war in Ukraine for the Indo-Pacific region.  

“If China judges that Russia’s strategy has succeeded, Beijing might then pursue a more aggressive path to achieve its aims in Taiwan,” concluded a report drafted by US Congressman Neal Patrick Dunn. “In the high-stakes game of deterrence, therefore, the battlefields of Eastern Ukraine and the Straits of Taiwan are now inextricably linked.” 

Dunn’s report, adopted by the ESC, pressed NATO governments to secure vital supply chains by reducing dependence on China in certain strategic sectors, and to work closely with partners in the Indo-Pacific to manage strategic competition. 

Water scarcity was another rising challenge highlighted at the NATO PA meeting. “There is an urgent need to strengthen resilience to water insecurity both within and outside the Alliance, to preserve national and collective security in a rapidly changing environment,” said a report authored by Merle Spellerberg, a member of Germany’s Bundestag.  

Her report, adopted by the Committee on Democracy and Security, said Allies must make water security an integral part of national climate-action plans, conduct regular nationwide vulnerability assessments, and mainstream water security across government activities. 

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