Category: Europe

On Tuesday, 22 October, Mr Rutte will meet with the President of Estonia, Mr Alar Karis and the Prime Minister, Mr Kristen Michal.

On Wednesday, 23 October, the Secretary General will meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Margus Tsahkna.

On the same day, Mr Rutte will visit Tapa Army Base, where he will address the troops together with the President of Estonia.

Media Advisory

22 October, 17:40 (CEST)  Joint press conference by the Secretary General and the Prime Minister of Estonia.

23 October, 13:30 (CEST)  Address to the troops followed by a press point by the Secretary General.

Media Coverage

The Secretary General’s press conference with the Prime Minister, will be streamed live on the NATO website, and broadcast live on EBU World feed and EBU News Exchange.

The address to the troops and press point will be streamed live on the NATO website, and broadcast live on EBU News Exchange.

Transcripts of the Secretary General’s remarks, as well as photographs, will be available on the NATO website. Video can be downloaded from the NATO Multimedia Portal after the event.

For more information:

For general queries: contact the NATO Press Office
Follow us on X: @NATO, @SecGenNATO and @NATOPress

“Strengthening our deterrence and defence is this Alliance’s top priority, because keeping our one billion people safe is NATO’s most sacred duty,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said after the meeting. The Secretary General cited greater defence industrial capacity, more secure supply chains, and new technologies as critical to ensuring the Alliance’s security. Mr. Rutte added that NATO was making a fresh push for common munitions standards and more joint procurement to drive down costs and improve ease of use among Allies. NATO operations in the Western Balkans and Iraq were also on the agenda.

Addressing the issue of Allied airspace breached by Russian drones, the Secretary General said that air and missile defence remains an Alliance priority. He highlighted the airspace violation in Romania yesterday and affirmed NATO’s solidarity with Romania, commending Romanian authorities and SACEUR for “their quick and effective response.” This was possible, in part, because NATO is stepping up surveillance on its eastern flank as part of a broader effort to reinforce deterrence. Mr Rutte went on to emphasise that Allies are purchasing hundreds of modern fighter aircraft and air defences systems.  

Warning of Russia’s “increasingly irresponsible rhetoric”, the Secretary General said the Alliance’s nuclear deterrent remains “vital” to preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression.

On Thursday (17 October), NATO Defence Ministers were joined for the first time by their counterparts from Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand for talks on common security challenges, including in the context of Ukraine and the support that China, North Korea, and Iran are providing to Russia’s war effort.

Later on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined Ministers in the NATO-Ukraine Council and provided an overview of his plan for ending the war. The discussion among Defence Ministers with their Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov, focused on Ukraine’s most urgent needs, including equipment and training. The Secretary General noted that work is well underway to set up NATO’s new command to coordinate security assistance and training for Ukraine, and to deliver on the pledge of 40 billion euros in military aid. He reiterated that Ukraine’s path to NATO membership is irreversible. “Ukraine will be member of NATO, there is no doubt about it, and until that happens we will make sure that Ukraine has everything it needs to prevail,” he said.

The Director of the International Military Staff (DGIMS), Lieutenant General Adamczak virtually opened the 2024 International Week alongside Colonel General Koval and Lieutenant General Nielsen, Commandants of the NDUU and the NDC.

“Today is the 965th day of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. During this time, President Putin launched various devastating attacks over Ukrainian territory. What he didn’t expect was the will and determination of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to protect and defend their country”, Lieutenant General Adamczak stated.

In his speech, DGIMS outlined what the Alliance is doing to support Ukraine, having mentioned projects such as the Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre (JATEC), the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) and the Pledge of Long-Term Security Assistance for Ukraine, among others.

Closing remarks were given by the Deputy Chair of the NATO Military Committee (DCMC), Lieutenant General Andrew Rohling, on the topic of strategic imperatives for NATO post Washington Summit. 

“In July, Allies restated the commitment to collective security, enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, the condemnation to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the bond to shared values such as individual liberty, human rights, democracy and the rule of law”, Lieutenant General Rohling underscored. “Nations reaffirmed their unwavering solidarity with the people of Ukraine and stated that a strong, independent, and democratic Ukraine is vital for the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic area”.

During their interventions, DGIMS and DCMC expressed that Ukraine’s path to NATO membership is irreversible. “Ukraine’s future is in NATO. We have witnessed concrete progress at democratic, economic and security aspects. And as Ukraine continues this vital reform work, we will continue to support its path to full NATO membership”, Lieutenant General Adamczak emphasized. 

“We need to ensure that Ukraine can win this war, by keeping you in the fight, by training your soldiers. We will help you with the capabilities, and with ammunition. But looking into the future of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as NATO and Ukraine are closer than ever, we are increasingly focusing on developing interoperability and standardization aspects for seamless transition in Ukraine’s eventual path to NATO membership”, Lieutenant General Rohling said.

The International Week contributes to a deeper understanding of NATO’s mission, organization, operations, partnerships, cooperation and future priorities by NDUU students and senior military and civilian officers.

In the first session of the two-day meeting, Defence Ministers met in an expanded format that for the first time included partners Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, as well as the European Union. 

Secretary General Mark Rutte said this was “a clear sign of our deepening cooperation in the face of shared challenges.”

Ministers discussed joint efforts to boost cyber defences, defence production and innovation; counter disinformation; and harness new technologies, including artificial intelligence. They also consulted on how they’re working together to support Ukraine.

“The war in Ukraine has shown that instability in Europe can have far reaching consequences across the world, and that countries thousands of miles away – as far away as Iran, China and even North Korea – can become security spoilers in our own backyard. Our world is closely linked – and so is our security,” said Rutte, who was chairing his first NATO Defence Ministers Meeting since taking office earlier this month.

The Secretary General also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss ongoing support for Ukraine. 

President Zelenskyy later addressed NATO Defence Ministers in the NATO-Ukraine Council, welcoming NATO’s continued support and highlighting Ukraine’s most urgent needs. 

The Secretary General underscored that Allies are firmly on track to deliver on their financial pledge of 40 billion euros in security assistance to Ukraine, with 20.9 billion euros provided in the first half of this year. 

Mr Rutte also noted his recent trip to Wiesbaden, Germany, where he visited NATO’s new command to coordinate security assistance and training to Ukraine. He said that the men and women serving there are “already hard at work to ensure that we deliver for Ukraine – so that you can prevail.”

Contributing Allies took part in a signing ceremony during a meeting of NATO Defence Ministers at NATO Headquarters. NATO’s Acting Deputy Secretary General Boris Ruge welcomed “the beginning of more meaningful work in new areas, but also important milestones for existing projects,” adding that “it’s a great example of how our Alliance delivers”.

The first project aims to accelerate the delivery of new generation Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) – such as NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) – through multinational cooperation. Thirteen Allies kicked off the project: Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Türkiye and the United Kingdom. RPAS fleets are essential to a range of roles and missions including joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and electromagnetic warfare. 

The second initiative seeks to increase the interchangeability and interoperability of key Allied artillery munitions. With initial contributions from 15 Allies – Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States – the project will contribute to harmonizing national fire testing and certification mechanisms. It will also help keep relevant standards up-to-date and support their adoption.

The Distributed Synthetic Training Environment project aims to respond to the ever-growing demand for virtual training at the multinational level. It establishes a network of advanced and immersive multinational training opportunities for militaries. Eighteen NATO nations have joined the project: Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, United Kingdom and the United States. By leveraging national simulated training capabilities for multinational purposes, the project will bring immense operational benefits and economies of scale. 

NATO is further stepping up its efforts to support Allied delivery of space technologies with two new projects. Through NORTHLINK, 13 Allies – Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United States – will explore the development of a secure, resilient and reliable multinational Arctic satellite communications capability. Through the STARLIFT initiative, 14 nations – Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, United Kingdom, United States – will investigate ways to strengthen NATO’s access to and use of space to deal with a range of challenges coming from operating from space. STARLIFT may help Allies to launch assets on short notice, manoeuvre a pre-positioned spare spacecraft or buy data from commercial partners during crisis or conflict 

Further steps were also taken to advance work on two projects already underway: the Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) and NATO’s cross-border airspace cooperation. Launched in 2020 and managed by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), the NGRC initiative aims to replace medium multi-role capabilities ending their life cycle in 2035 and beyond. On Thursday, five of the participating Allies – France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom – committed to identify a single preferred solution for the replacement of these capabilities by the end of 2027, thereby enabling the development of this solution in 2030. 

NATO’s cross-border airspace initiative also grew to 20 member countries with the addition of Denmark, Germany, Iceland and Portugal. First launched in October 2023, the project aims to foster civil-military cooperation on the use of airspace for NATO training and exercises, and other air activities in several regions of Europe.
 

The Alliance Data Sharing Ecosystem (ADSE) for defence and security will support the implementation of NATO’s digital transformation and its efforts in rapidly adopting dual-use technologies. It will leverage existing capabilities across the NATO Enterprise, Allied government agencies, industry and academia, and other key stakeholders. The pilot phase will run until the end of 2025, and initially focus on public and unclassified data to support four priority areas: the security of critical undersea infrastructure; geospatial awareness; information environment assessment, and maritime situational awareness.

Connecting the ADSE with other data-sharing initiatives, such as the Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space, will have a multiplier effect on NATO’s data exploitation capability and multi-domain operations.

The new initiative is timely. Strategic competitors are accelerating data exploitation in the military and civilian domains, notably for the development of AI-enabled capabilities. The availability of AI-ready, quality data is a prerequisite for NATO to maintain its technological edge and military effectiveness.